In the hopes of building a better future, Edenvale resident and football enthusiast, Kamohelo Moalosi, plans on developing youth in the sport.
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To do this Kamohelo established a soccer organisation, SoccerDemics, three months ago.
The organisation assists children from Edenvale, Germiston, Thembisa and Alexandra.
Although the organisation has operated for three months Kamohelo said its roots have existed for much longer.
“Before lockdown started my friends and I would come to the sports grounds to kick the ball around and have some fun.”
“I noticed there were a lot of children who were there playing with us and I found myself coaching and guiding them while playing.”
Kamohelo said over time he developed a player and coach relationship with the children who ranged from 11 to 19 years old.
“It got to the point where we were talking about life outside of soccer and I was able to give advice. That’s when I saw the opportunity to give back and teach them more.”
“Fortunately, some of the things they ask me about are the same things that I have been through.”
Kamohelo said many of the children who are part of the organisation are from families who struggle to pull through each month.
“Although my situation growing up wasn’t as dire as what some of theirs is, I understand the dynamic.”
He said the main issues he offers advice on are related to drinking and drug use.
“All of them are at that age where they are inquisitive where they want to know more about what is going on around them.”
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“In Edenvale CBD there is an obvious problem and a lot of these children live in the CBD.”
Kamohelo said another problem the children face when they visit the sports grounds is the fact that there are other youngsters smoking marijuana.
“These are things I experienced as well. I was also a child who came to the sports grounds to play soccer.”
“Although there were always adults around there was never any guidance.”
He said through SoccerDemics he wants to provide support to the youth of the community.
Kamohelo’s soccer journey at Edenvale Football Club started when he was 12 years old after one of his friends invited him to play at the club.
After joining the club, Kamohelo’s confidence in himself and as a footballer grew.
At 17 years he went for trials with the former Silver Stars (now Platinum Stars) in Modderfontein where he played for a season. Afterwards, he moved on to Footcell.
At the age of 19, Kamohelo had the opportunity to play division one in Australia.
“I gave it my all but things didn’t work out as planned.”
Kamohelo explained that substance abuse, the lifestyle associated with being a footballer, caught up with him and his opportunities started fading.
“I did not recognise the actual problem at the time because it was hidden. I still looked functional and interacted with everyone.”
Speaking about his history of substance abuse, Kamohelo said it has been a long journey.
According to him, it started one night while he was at a party with a circle of friends who were not as involved in soccer as he was.
“It was normal for them at the party to sneak out and smoke a joint, so the one night I decided to chill with them while they smoked.”
“One of my friends pulled out a gram bag of white powder and I tried it.”
Little did Kamohelo know his personality would latch onto it.
“I would use the drugs and it would make the world seem like I had been missing out on a lot.
“Eventually it got to the point where it wasn’t fun anymore and I was relying on this thing.”
Kamohelo said the substance use started affecting his family and putting pressure on his friends.
“Everything started to fall apart, but in 2018 my gran went to social workers to find out how to help me.”
Soon after this, Kamohelo went to Wedge Gardens where he started his journey to recovery.
He said at Wedge Gardens he rediscovered his latent talents and started writing again.
While at Wedge Gardens Kamohelo said the idea for SoccerDemics took root.
“It was not as refined as it is now, but the idea was to always help the youth who are going through mental challenges.”
Kamohelo said assisting children has formed a large part of his recovery.
As the organisation grows, he hopes it will become the bridge between grassroots football and development academies
“We plan to not only teach them about soccer but to guide and prepare them for life.”
To date, Kamohelo has covered all the expenses out of his pocket, however, he appealed to businesses and community members for assistance.
He said the organisation needs equipment and funding to cover overhead costs such as food and transportation costs.
Contact Kamoheloat rvtmails@gmail.com or on 083 699 4538 for more information.
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