Ballet for the Masses

Photograph by Zwelizwe Ndhlovu

As they say around my areas, Ke Dezember boss. This is the time where we will see the annual showcase of talent that PSL scouts have ignored for years exhibit their forgotten but incredible talents (we’ll discuss this later).

This is also the time where we see our beloved PSL stars returned to their roots and participate in a tournament. These stars risk an injury that can harm their careers and possibly end it just to play in these tournaments. But why? They surely do not get as much money from theses annual tournaments, so it must be for some other reason.

While sitting with colleagues we had this discussion and came up with a couple of reasons.

Groupies

When our PSL players return to grassroots soccer they return as heroes. They get lots of love (and hate from those who never made it) from ladies. With Soccer players having reputations of  being players (excuse the pun) it is quite understandable why one would think that.

Freedom

How many times have you heard Mushin say he has no problem with showboating as long as you use it positively? Well, it is called showboating for a reason and that is to show off skills that have nothing to do with going forward but are there just to drive the crowd wild. Grassroots soccer gives the players that freedom that professional levels do not really allow.

Crowd

Let’s face it, Kasi tournament crowds are the liveliest crowds you will find in this country!  And the biggest crowds you will probably play in front of in this country unless you play for Chiefs or Pirates.

Giving back

Grassroots tournaments are where most of our players came up and they feel that they need to remind people of where they come from so that no one thinks that they have sold out to European football and have forgotten our very own style here in Mzansi. In a way, they have danced in the big stages of the country and the world but sometimes they want to come back to their beginnings and just do one ballet for the masses.

Analyse This

Photograph by Zweli Ndhlovu

They wear suits that make you think what is about to come is some really insightful stuff.

You know the suit, dark colour with a light shirt and bright tie. They carry a tablet or a piece of paper with all the stats that they need for their argument. Some of the more experienced ones have their stats memorised already. They use all the trending football talk terms like transition, false nine, high line.

They usually have credibility to their name like “Former coach of XXX”, “journalist for the biggest sports publication in the country”, “legendary defender”, “Won the what-what cup in 1998”, “former club captain”, “XXX clean sheets” and “XXX goals for club and country”. Their bio is something you cannot deny. They have been in the game long enough that their opinion of the game gets the fans attention.

But why do I find myself disagreeing with some of the points they talk about, especially when they talk about defensive or offensive mistakes? You would hear how a striker should have hit the ball or hear what a defender did wrong in the conceding of the goal.

It seems to me they always try to find a fault in every move. A spectacular save will get the honourable mention “Credit to the keeper, but the striker should have….” Giving an impression of the keepers’ efforts is only good because the shot was worse.

Sometimes I am not sure if they analyse or just criticising mistakes made by players. The same mistakes they used to make during their playing days. Let’s Analyse that.

A Star Is Born

Photograph by Zweli Ndlhovu

Let’s start with congratulations to Ka Bo Yellow, bafana ba style, the Brazilians, Mamelodi Sundowns for winning the CAF champions league (cue boos from Mandela cup winners). They endured tough away trips in order to win this and even though some football fans will refer to their backdoor entry, they still had to play to win plus record books will only say 2016 CAF champions league winners not backdoor entrants. Finally another South African club has the sought after star!

In South Africa we usually think it represents continental trophies and World cups; we never think that a club can put a star for an amazing achievement like winning the league 5 times or winning a continental trophy that is not the CAF champions league (cue relief for Mandela cup winners).

According to Wikipedia the first club to introduce the star in their badge was the old lady, Juventus in 1958 to signify their tenth league title. Who would’ve thought that a trend would start that would ultimately be the ambition for almost every club in the world. The star symbolises a tremendous achievement by a club. This can range from milestone years by a club to milestone league trophy wins or a continental even world achievement.

With that said, I have come to realise that the star represents an achievement that should be celebrated, not having one does not mean the club is lacking or is not a big club on the continent (cue cheers for Mandela cup winners).

I hope the achievement of Sundowns gives current and future PSL clubs ambition to try etching their name on African football history pages. Lord knows local players need to realise there are bigger achievements to aim for on the continent. And that competing across the continent will make them better players.

Good luck! to Sundowns when they face the like of Real Madrid, Club America, Aukland City and Atletico Nacional in the club world cup December. Go show the world why South Africans think so highly of themselves when it comes to the beautiful game.

Let’s Talk Refs pt. II

Photograph by Zweli Ndhlovu

The past weekend was full of wonderful football and high scores both domestically and internationally. As with every week questionable decisions were made that had both the analysts and the fans debating whether it was the correct decision or not. No agreement is ever reached by the debaters but they are never on the refs’ side.

The toughest job in football has to be the referee’s job, closely followed by the coaches’ job of course. Think about it, the referee is the only person that is hated by all sides in a match, both teams hate the referee, the supporters would like to get their hands on the referee. Analysts, commentators and journalists will never miss the chance to highlight how the referee ruined the game for both teams and how incompetent the standard of referring was. There seems to be no getting away for the referee no matter what corner they turn on.

Refereeing is basically mediating between two parties that want their way and that on its own is a leadership position, guess that explains why a lot of our referees are also in the education sector, a sector that needs both leaders and mediators. So I compiled a couple of things that a referee should keep in mind as mediating leaders. 

I learnt this when my father was speaking at a leadership training on some other weekend. Some referees show these qualities I have to say.

Facing their fears

Referees often avoid punishing an opponent because they are afraid of ruining the game. That fear has led to some decisions that have affected the games result and that ruins games on its own. As referees they have to face these kinds of fears if they want to carry out a fair game.

Be prepared to be hated

Coaches are only hated when they lose, referees are never liked by anyone. As a referee some decisions taken will not be popular and people will be saying a lot of things your way and fans will boo you, coaches will scream at you. Analysts will be speaking like you told them what you were thinking. Basically you will be disliked more than Jacob Zuma in parliament.

Be comfortable with discomfort

As I said earlier, no one seems to be on the referees’ side, when it is match day. Referees have to be prepared to be an island, Isolated, alone and no one coming to their rescue. Waves of hate and questions can come from any side. As a referee, you must get used to uncomfortable situations as they keep you on your toes. Referees that are never prepared to be uncomfortable are the ones that look flustered when things take a turn in the game.

 Accept vulnerability

Referees are always at the mercy of someone, their decisions get questioned by everyone internally in their boards to people who hardly know the rules of the game. They are vulnerable to the people that pay to watch the sport and those that report it. They will always have to answer to someone not happy about their decisions. They have to accept that and be fine with it and not try to use the game to minimize their vulnerability.

Let’s Talk Refs

Photograph by Zweli Ndlhovu

I was listening to a passenger in a taxi bemoaning what a certain referees in the PSL was officiating the game.

This got me thinking of amateur referees and how games are judged there. Usually the referee would be a guy that came to support one of the teams or a passer-by that is not in a rush.

The chances of the games being refereed fair depended on how well the middle man knew both teams and how intimidated he is by them. Yes, the most unfair games are the ones where the middle man is intimidated. You see him officiating from the corner flag so that he has a quick escape in case they are unhappy.

And with just cause! We all have stories of coaches, fans and even players attacking the middle man for decision they do not agree with. Go to any tournament, there is always the incident where the crowd was baying for the referee’s blood.

Guess the PSL referees should be thankful that they are protected. 

6 Things PSL Players Need To Learn From Lower Division Players

Photo by: Zwelizwe Ndlovu

Have you ever looked at a player and say “He used to be a better player when he played Ekasi”? A lot of players change once they are in the big leagues, they no longer do the same things that got them to the PSL, and You can argue that they changed in order to stay there, but a lot of soccer players changed their style without improving as football players. 

With the start of the new season tonight, PSL players need to learn or re-learn depending on if they had it at first. So I compiled a list of things I think PSL Players Need to Learn From Lower Division Players, that would benefit our soccer as a whole and hopefully get us more goals. because it breaks my heart that amateur players are learning the bad habits their role models which contributes in the deteriorating of our football in the country.

1.   Hunger

When ‘Terror’ Fanteni first made his appearance in the PSL, he was rumoured to have scored over a 500 goals in the Vodacom League ( A rumour I still do not believe by the way)

2.   Willingness To Learn

I think this is a strictly South African problem, where South African players feel that they have achieved and do not have anything else they can learn after a few good games they have played in the PSL.

3.   Take a lot of risks

If you want to see some of the most audacious things tried by South African players, granted It is the things they see being tried in European Leagues, then go to the lower divisions.

4.   Do not over play your part ( everybody has a job)

Some players want to do everybody’s job.

5.   Challenge Yourself

PSL players favourite line when asked what they want to achieve? “I want to do the best I can for me and focus on the team” It is like they go for the safe option, and challenging themselves depends on the club they are at.

6.   Sometimes disobeying the coach is what is needed

Coaches are great, but sometimes their plans just do not work, Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.

7.   Deal with Pressure

When you are able to still play your game even when fans abuse you from the touchline....not stands but touchline. PSL players games seems to affected by the smallest things from fans who can not even get near the touchline

Hope we see goals this season, not eish, not almost but goals!

Backyard Support

Photograph by Zweli Ndhlovu

So it seems like the new football season has started with an exciting bang!

Social media is buzzing, football #hashtags are trending like the season never ended. Seems like we just picked up where we left of during the month of May when the under dogs did the unthinkable. The memes and the songs you hear from a stadium full of supporters taunting the visiting team, makes you wish you were there.

But...That’s Europe.

With the football season starting on the 23^rd of August this side, one can’t help but feel like we will bemoan poor stadium attendance in all but big three games against each other. Where empty stadium hashtags will trend more than the good football they actually give. (They really produce good games! but because there is no atmosphere you wouldn’t tell.)

It seems like we have some sort of an inferiority complex regarding sports in our country versus those from overseas. We never seem to find the right balance between valuing our sports and giving just enough respect to sports in other countries, but charity starts at home and not when they are at the Olympics! But our own leagues as well.

It always breaks my heart when people support a team that does not represent them or their town, in this country you would find that a team does not have support of the town it is based in and why is that? You see people from KZN telling you that they are proud Zulu or 100% Zulu and even that they are proud to be from but support a proudly Gauteng team.

I stopped supporting Chiefs when I realised that my focus on the popular teams and its rival made one less interested to get tickets to watch the smaller teams in stadiums when I hardly watched them on TV.

And we often rave on about how the Dortmund team is so well supported, or how small town teams like Leicester City win the league but never take a lesson from them, that they support their hometown teams, because they understand the importance of supporting teams that represent where they are from.

They say charity begins at home, and no growth in our sport will happen until we start in our hometowns to support sports teams we have.

Enjoy the 2016/2017 season and all the goals, surprises and memories it will bring. I am sure we can all say we missed it.

The Question: Is the past affecting our present?

Photograph by Zweli Ndhlovu

The previous month we celebrated youth month in a variety of ways, as a nation we look back at what the class of ’76 did and how we benefit from their sacrifice, we looked at what the current crop of youth and see how they measure up. This got me wondering about the era of that period and the era that followed after till now.

The legends of that era are probably the most famous legends we acknowledge today, Shakes Mashaba, Teenage Dladla, Jomo Sono, Ace. The list can go on, this generation of legends we use as reference when talking about how South Africa should play.

Through the years tournaments and leagues like Chappies league, Kay Motsepe cup, Investec league, Copa Coa Cola, Milo champions tournament, Danone Nations cup, Metropolitan tournament, Future stars, Bayhill tournament, Engen Knockout etc. have bred some of the best stars our football knows today, they continue to be the breeding ground for the future talents.

If you have been to any of these tournaments then you will have one or two stories of players you had seen there that are in the PSL right now which is wonderful. But we have a lot more stories where a player is on fire in a tournament and looks the part that we soccer lovers are always in search of either for our teams or national team, and you expect him to do good when he gets there, only to hear a coach in the big leagues say that player is not ready.

Have we looked at our legends so much that we o not believe in the current talent that is in front of us? Or has the talent in the years degraded to the point that we have no choice but to look at what the past brought us?

Guess what I am wondering is whether the talent pool has decreased or have we been looking back so much we are neglecting the present.

Endangered Birds

There are few teams that you can never leave out when talking about South African soccer history. Moroka Swallows is one of them, unless you are one of those who think South African football was built by three teams.

Some of the people who were involved in Swallows development back in 2013 when they were based in Germiston

Growing up, Sisa Nombe and Sibusiso Mazibuko represented my first interpretation of what “terrible twins” were. Their combination would give defenders sleepless nights. Samuel Ngobeni, Asande Ngobese were one of the most skillful players we had in the country at that time and expressed the way we felt South African football should be played, authentic Kasi football, idiski.

Some of the players who were part of the development in 2013

Moroka Swallows have always had a rich history in South African soccer history, when you consider the legends they have brought us like “the bull” Lehoko, “Sporo” Mangena, “Chaka-Chaka” Mpondo and “Ace” Mnini to mention a few it was really heartbreaking when I received the news they had were now in the third tier league after a dismal performance during the course of the NFD season.

The slow death of this club means we lose another part of soccer history to the archives and old men’s tales.

Their relegation to the Vodacom League mirrors the decline of African Wanderers (another club lost to the archives of South African football history)

They have gone down and the management (you know who you are) have abandoned ship that they contributed in its sinking.

Let’s hope that one day the sleeping giants will awaken so that when we tell our children’s children about the beautiful game we love, our history does not start in 1996.

May God Bless The Sport

Photograph by Zweli Ndhlovu

This Easter, I would rather spend my time watching the gifted give me hope or give me a reminder as to why talent should never be messed with or taken lightly. I want to see the “I could’ve been a star if it wasn’t for 1, 2, 3...” doing things that would make you actually believe them on the field. I would rather see the players that have made it come back to Ekasi and playing the type of football the professional leagues would look down upon.

I want to watch God-given talent, the type that makes you say that this cannot be learned in the academies or in textbooks. The types of talent that make you think that this guy was born with the ball in his feet.

I want to feel at home sitting next to the field, with a combination of anonymity amidst the crowd and knowing that when it comes to the game we love, we all speak the same language.

Instead of listening to someone talk for an hour and a half, trying to make a joke here while I do my best not to fall asleep or seem distracted, I want to watch 22 players or less (depending on red cards) that will leave me with a smile, in awe, shocked, angry or in stitches.

It feels as though the only thing I understand nowadays is whatever happens in those ninety minutes between the 22 players (or less) and the ball that is placed in the middle, I have lost the feeling of home in church and can only find it amongst the people who came to watch the magic that is in the beautiful game. Those 90 minutes remind me of the beauty that is created by God.

So whether you find solace in the church or on the field or in both, may this Easter period give you what you are hoping for. Have a blessed one and stay safe.