Fifteen years of nurturing grassroots football
ALEXANDRA - THE South African Breweries (Sab) League has officially marked 15 years of nurturing some of South Africa’s best football talent at grassroots level.
The Sab League National Championship Public Draw was recently held at the Sab World of Beer in Newtown where the South African Football Association (Safa) and Sab officials celebrated the milestone with Orlando Pirates defender Happy Jele and Bafana Bafana assistant coach Thabo Senong.
The Sab League National Championship 2015 is set to take place from 28 June at the Giant Stadium in Pretoria, with nine provincial teams and one university team, including defending champions Free State, taking part.
Preceding the much-anticipated draw, Jele, Senong, Safa and Sab officials participated in a panel discussion about the progress of grassroots football development in South Africa.
Senong, a coaching graduate of the Sab League, went on to become the youngest coach to have ever been part of the senior national team.
“South African football should be competing against the best in the world, but for us to achieve this we need solid structures such as the Sab League and aspiring coaches, both male and female, to sharpen their skills for the benefit of our young talent,” said Senong
Orlando Pirates defender, Jele, also attributed his success in football to his time with the league.
“I am one of many South African players who were scouted from the league. I still reminisce with some of my current peers in the Premier Soccer League [about] our days in the Sab League and how it has contributed to us perfecting our basic football abilities at an early age,” said Jele.
Nomsa Mahlangu, a Safa NEC member, said their partnership with the league has yielded incredible results to further the vision of South African football.
