Residents of Makhaza and neighbouring areas had a fun-filled day on Saturday, June 1, during the official opening of a new artificial turf soccer field, where teams battled it out.

The turf has been on the drawing board for a number of years. Prior to this, young people from Makhaza have been forced to hone their soccer skills on dusty fields, due to a lack of resources, but aspiring soccer players will no longer have to struggle and can now enjoy the green artificial grass of home.

A delighted Makhaza Local Football Association president Zibele Mahamba said the team was happy to take to the new field this week in front of a local crowd.

“We have been fighting to have a proper field for over 10 years. Our teams had to play in a bumpy field for all these years. As you see there is excitement all over. People are happy,” he said.

The club focuses on developing young boys and creating future soccer stars. Mr Mahamba said the players will now be able to play good football and get used to the turf. He however said there's a lot that still needed to be done.

“This is not enough. There is only one field for 15 teams and each team has four divisions. There is also no grandstand and change rooms. These are some of the things that we need. We have limited resources but we appreciate the field,” he concluded.

Club owner and coach, Wiseman Dayeni, was among the happy crowd. He said he had been dreaming of the day when Makhaza would have a better field. Mr Dayeni said the development of players in the area will nowimprove.

“I had a dream of empowering young people and turning them into great sportsmen on a better and proper field. We suffered here for years without a proper field. Now it is time for us as coaches to make good use of this field. But I can tell you the field will encourage our players to work hard and with determination. We will soon start to bear fruits,” he said.

At the opening several professional teams played symbolic matches against local teams, including Cape Town Spurs’ Urban Warrior and Valencia. The matches were also watched by several scouts.

Scout Morris Bacaza advised the LFA to use the field for soccer programmes and to train younger boys in proper football and life skills.

Makhaza Local Football Association president Zibele Mahamba watching a match on the new turf.

Mighty Peace FC, in yellow, and Valencia,, in black curtain raised for a bigger match on Saturday between Cape Town Spurs and the Valencia senior team.

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Long-awaited new synthetic field opens for play