Last weekend was such a relief for me as I ignored politics and talks of coalition.
For a change, I spent a weekend watching a soccer tournament in Belhar with teams from the townships and the well-established soccer academies battling it out for a top spot.
This Engen Knockout Challenge Cup has been around for years and is impressive. I liked this year’s encouraging slogan: It’s your moment.
It was really an opportunity for not-so-rich soccer teams to show off their strength against the big guns such as Cape Town City, Cape Town Spurs and Stellenbosch Football Clubs. The winner in the boys’ section was Stellenbosch for the second year in succession. That tells you a story.
There I was sitting, thinking what could the teams from our poor local football teams do to match the big boys.
I came to the conclusion that that dream was impossible. I say this and I will say it time and again, that it will take real magic for a team from the Cape Flats to win that tournament.
Teams from the Local Football Associations (LFAs) are still the least likely group to progress to the higher standards possessed by these academies.
The gap between the rich and poor has widened over the years, and is continuing. Better-off teams are significantly more likely to win every battle than their more disadvantaged counterparts.
The biggest advantage of the rich teams in tournaments is resources. Players have time to train and proper nutrition, while we eat pap, vetkoek or nothing. These teams have physios, doctors and training materials.
The Cape Flats teams have nothing to compete with them. Our teams from these poor backgrounds, firstly, struggle to get their players to come to training because of other responsibilities or indiscipline. Our teams have no sponsors to support them with small things like a ball let alone the uniform. The coaches are struggling with a lot of things. I have seen it, there are times when the coaches have to train not more than six players.
Make no mistake, there is talent in these areas but the stumbling block is poverty. One would ask that but why are these advantaged or rich teams playing with township players? They come and see them, and promise them heaven and earth. Who wouldn’t want to go to Cape Town City, Stellenbosch or Spurs when you know it can change your fortune.
However, we must thank the organisers of such tournaments and the sponsors for inclusion. These are yardsticks of our development, socially and sportwise. But I have to say, I am not sure if they are really helping in developing our youngsters.
In my book, the development of soccer is to visit the poor teams and provide them with tools like balls, kits and other materials. The day we see each child kicking a ball on the street or coming to training everyday knowing that there will be balls and training material, it will be the start of development. The day they come to the field and have a slice of bread before they train or go home, that will be the day they match these big guns of soccer.
No one can train a child on an empty stomach and expect full concentration.
Sport in the townships is doomed unless rich and poor combine to combat poverty.
For now, the rich teams must enjoy winning all these tournaments for the next hundred years. Congratulations to Stellenbosch FC.
