Teams can’t have a daily practice due to unmaintained grounds
All facilities will soon be cleaned
Tsakani – Soccer coaches in Tsakani are unhappy that their sports grounds are dirty and have turned into dumping sites.
According to Samba Boys FC coach Tumelo Masinya, the grass on the grounds hasn’t been cut this year.
“At first we would try to get a person to mow for us and pay them, however, the grass grows longer as it rains and we have been having heavy rains since last year.
“We can’t afford to pay the person because the longer the grass is, the more expensive it is,” Masinya said.
Masinya said they are now using Ext 22 ground to play their home games, however, it is still difficult as all junior, senior and super teams from Ext Eight, Ext 12, Ext 13 and Ext 22 play there.
“As a team from Ext 13, we now have nowhere to train and this has led to us losing players.
“When we launch sports teams, we do so to remove the children from the streets. But what happens to them as sports practices can’t take place regularly,” Masinya said.
Masinya said it is also a worry that they don’t have netball teams within the community.
When asked who is responsible for the cleaning of the fields, metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said, “The Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture (SRAC) and Real Estate departments through customer care centres are responsible for the cleaning, it depends on which facility it is.
“We are working on getting all sports facilities to be moved to SRAC.”
Dlamini said grass-cutting within the metro started on Wednesday (today) as service providers have been selected and all facilities will soon receive attention.
