{"id":57895,"date":"2026-11-06T23:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T21:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/?p=57895"},"modified":"2026-11-06T23:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T21:44:09","slug":"handre-pollard-jurenzo-julius-and-danie-van-heerden-go-beyond-the-name-to-reveal-what-really-makes-them-jabula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/gambling\/handre-pollard-jurenzo-julius-and-danie-van-heerden-go-beyond-the-name-to-reveal-what-really-makes-them-jabula\/","title":{"rendered":"Handr\u00e9 Pollard, Jurenzo Julius and Danie van Heerden go Beyond the Name to reveal what really makes them Jabula"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

JabulaBets<\/a> introduces its Beyond the Name campaign with Handr\u00e9 Pollard, Jurenzo Julius and Danie \u201cPitbull\u201d van Heerden, exploring the family ties, private doubts and everyday happiness behind their public lives.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A son waiting in the doorway. A phone call home to share good news. A family watching from the crowd. These are some of the moments introducing South Africans to the Jabula Squad, a growing community platform from JabulaBets<\/a> that brings together athletes, personalities and an expanding network of members.<\/p>\r\n

\"Handr\u00e9<\/a>
Handr\u00e9 Pollard, Jurenzo Julius and Danie van Heerden go Beyond the Name to reveal what really makes them Jabula<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Launching through Beyond the Name<\/strong>, the brand\u2019s first major national campaign, the Squad opens with three familiar sporting figures: Handr\u00e9 Pollard, Jurenzo Julius and Danie \u201cPitbull\u201d van Heerden. Their stories invite audiences beyond the results and reputations to meet the people their families and friends know.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Rolling out across JabulaBets\u2019 <\/a>digital channels from 6 November, the campaign combines films, personal interviews and candid shared conversations. At its centre is a question drawn from the brand\u2019s name: what makes you feel Jabula?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jabula is the isiZulu word for \u201cto be happy\u201d or \u201cto rejoice\u201d. For the Squad\u2019s first three members, the answers lead to family, belonging and the people who have helped them keep going.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The stories behind the Squad<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Each film follows one member. When the Lights Go Down<\/em> sits with Pollard, the Stoic Leader. Building the Name<\/em> follows Julius, the Rising Spark, from Namibia towards his professional rugby ambitions. More Than the Pitbull<\/em> introduces van Heerden, the Challenger, away from the assumptions attached to his fighting persona.<\/p>\r\n

\"Handr\u00e9<\/a>
Handr\u00e9 Pollard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

For Pollard<\/strong>, happiness can be as simple as arriving home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThe thing that makes me the happiest in life currently is coming home, stopping and watching my son stand in the doorway waiting for me,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> he says. \u201cI think it\u2019s priceless.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fatherhood has also changed the way he measures achievement. \u201cWhen you\u2019re young, you look at medals, trophies, caps and money as success. But being a good husband and father, and being present at home, is something I don\u2019t think you can put a price on.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n

\"Jurenzo<\/a>
Jurenzo Julius<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Julius\u2019s<\/strong> story returns to the family he left behind when he moved from Namibia to Paul Roos Gymnasium on a scholarship. He recalls loneliness and the reassurance of a conversation with his father: \u201cHe reminded me that, \u2018God is always with you. You are never alone.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When an invitation to a national alignment camp arrived, his parents were the first people he wanted to tell.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cTo see how happy they were, and to see all the sacrifices they made paying off, was almost a full-circle moment,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> he says.<\/p>\r\n

\"Danie<\/a>
Danie van Heerden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Van Heerden,<\/strong> meanwhile, introduces a side of himself that spectators may rarely encounter: a father who enjoys a braai, games with his two sons and jokes about being a \u201ctrophy husband\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThe fans and the people at the moment, they see the results,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>he says. \u201cThey don\u2019t see the travel, they don\u2019t see the struggles, they don\u2019t see those moments where I wanted to quit. They only see the results.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A community people can recognise themselves in<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For JabulaBets co-founder and director Caly McCall, those experiences explain the thinking behind the Squad. The platform is intended to create connections through stories that feel familiar, even when the people telling them compete on an international stage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t simply want famous faces representing Jabula. We want genuine relationships with people who share our values, believe in what we\u2019re building and have the freedom to bring their authentic selves into our brand,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> says McCall.<\/p>\r\n

\"JabulaBets<\/a>
JabulaBets co-founder and director Caly McCall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The athletes were chosen for the character and experiences behind their achievements, including the hard work, setbacks and relationships that have shaped them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Across the campaign, those stories give meaning to \u201cJabula \u2013 It\u2019s a Feeling\u201d. <\/strong>This is what the brand calls the Jabula Effect: recognising something of your own life in the person behind a familiar name.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cUltimately, our ambition is to build a Squad that South Africans don\u2019t just follow, but feel part of,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>says McCall.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Watch the campaign and meet the Squad at jabulabets.co.za\/squad<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

18+. Gamble responsibly.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JabulaBets introduces its Beyond the Name campaign with Handr\u00e9 Pollard, Jurenzo Julius and Danie \u201cPitbull\u201d van Heerden, exploring the family ties, private doubts and everyday happiness behind their public lives. A son waiting in the doorway. A phone call home to share good news. A family watching from the crowd. These are some of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5431],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57903,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57895\/revisions\/57903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}