The Corner Flag: Planning for a life beyond sports fields
This will stop the many stories of athletes who go broke after retirement or when their careers end early.
While listening to Olympic silver medallist Khotso Mokoena launch his Youth, Athletes, Skills and Development Institute (YASDI) of Competence at Southern Sun Rosebank last month, I was taken back to the abrupt end of Jabu Mahlangu’s career.
As a young footballer in Tsakane in the mid-2000s, no player enchanted me like this former Kaizer Chiefs dribbling wizard from Daveyton.
Although he never fulfilled his potential because of off-field behaviour, Mahlangu was undoubtedly a generational talent. He had a cartoonish pace that went with his vision and trickery, and a bumper stage presence matched all that talent.
I remember him running rings around the Jomo Cosmos defence to lead the Chiefs to the 2001 Coca-Cola Cup title.
Who can forget the blond polka-dot hairstyle he sported at the start of the 2002/03 season when he led the Amakhosi to a league and cup double?
‘Shuffle’, as he was known, was a box office draw, and most would remember him for making the game fun, but it later emerged that being Mahlangu wasn’t that much fun.
Raised by alcoholic parents, the bottle didn’t fall far from him.
By his mid-teens, he was a heavy drinker, and this subsequently affected much of his football career.
My love for newspapers exposed me to much I didn’t know about this man. It hurt my feelings to see his face splashed all over the Sunday tabloid, with stories of his substance abuse doing the rounds.
Also Read: The Corner Flag: Daveyton residents responsible for destruction of Sinaba Stadium
But nothing haunts me like his photo asleep next to his wrecked car in Austria while in the country playing for SV Mattersburg.
That was the end of Shuffle.
While he mesmerised me with his on-field wizardry, little did I know about these off-field antics.
He eventually hit rock bottom until SuperSport United gave him an ambassadorial role. He also led a financial literacy drive through the Multichoice Diski Challenge to teach young players the importance of using their earnings wisely.
We are continuously inundated with stories of former sports stars hitting the hard times after retirement or because of ill-discipline.
Recently, it was Olympic silver medallist Luvo Manyonga who apparently blew around R8.4m, while ex-footballer Lerato Chabangu “lost everything” due to recklessness.
These stories inspired Mokoena to start YASDI to help athletes plan for life beyond sports or any eventualities in their careers.
YASDI will empower, elevate and support aspiring and established athletes by providing opportunities for life during and after their sports careers.
Seeing Benonian Lythe Pillay and other athletes endorse this programme was encouraging. It’s long overdue.
Mahlangu never had such an opportunity, and Mokoena is determined to ensure current and future athletes don’t follow the same path.
Our youth need this good initiative to avoid the ‘In my time, I was the best’ tales often heard from ex-footballers at the Mabuya ground in Daveyton.
Also Read: The Corner Flag: Eastern Storm, do it for Radebe
