When one parent, Vusi Madisha, watched from the sidelines as his son’s team, First 11 FC, fell 1-4 to Super Stars FC on July 26 at the Altrec Sports Complex, his mind was not on the scoreline but something more heartbreaking.

He said he had seen talent wasted at Altrec grounds over the years, all because there aren’t many people who are interested in investing in Alexandra’s young football players. He said as a parent, he is among those who know that local football doesn’t always lead anywhere.

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Madisha argued that this has forced most parents in the area to treat youth football as recreational at best, not something that could translate into real opportunity. “Most parents don’t take sports seriously. Even in our time, we played football, but I don’t recall ever seeing a professional scout checking local talent,” he said.

He has watched several gifted young players come through Altrec, convinced that with the right support, some of them could have gone on to the national stage. Instead, without opportunity or investment, many drifted into substance abuse and crime. He said one player, in particular, has stayed with him, a boy he regarded as among the best he’d ever seen locally. “He would take everyone on from the back to the front and still score a goal. He was a very talented player,” Madisha recalled. But that talent never reached a trial, a scout, or a bigger platform.

Madisha tied this to a lack of inspiration and investment in young people’s football, noting that that is why both the players and the parents disengage. That same reasoning led him to move his daughter to a better-resourced school, believing that chances for recognition simply don’t exist at a local level. He maintained that if parents truly believed their children had a genuine shot at turning professional, they would take the sport far more seriously.

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Meanwhile, First 11 coach Kaizer Zuke stressed that parental support is crucial for players’ development and overall performance on the field. On July 26, he felt that his tactical plans were undone before kickoff, with several players missing training time. “In the first half, we went onto the pitch unprepared, not with the line-up I had planned. Some players only arrived when the game was about to start,” he said.
He pinned much of the blame on parents who prioritise household errands over football commitments. He said this leaves him unable to hold players accountable. “As a coach, you can’t reprimand the child because they will say it was their parent. That’s the problem,” Zuke said.

Zuke believes that with parents’ support, young players will have a far better chance to grow in the sport.

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