Lack of resources — their only inspiration

Sipho Mantsheng regards himself as a soccer coach par excellence.

He has a good team made up of dedicated young, talented teenagers all of whom are bubbling and vibrant with aspiration and enthusiasm, and face a bleak future that has failed to dampen their lively spirit.

Each week, without fail, everyone of them makes it his own effort to get to the fields when the team has a game, to play his best, for the love of the game.

There are hundreds of these informal soccer teams spread throughout the townships in just about every town and province around the country.

“We go from hand-to mouth and survive for as long as the players continue to provide their skills. We are not affiliated to any league, we survive by playing friendly games among ourselves which become our only source of income and something to inspire our players,” explained Mantsheng, the coach and owner of K-11 in Katlehong.

Last week, K-11 suffered a humiliating 5 – 4 penalty defeat against arch rivals Real Madrid, in a R150 stake winner-takes-all knock-out game in Sunrise, south of Katlehong.

Despite their restrictive limitations, Mantsheng, told Kathorus MAIL that the majority of the teams in the informal non-league structure depends on their coaches to solicit and arrange games and the stakes in the game.

Stakes vary from between R50 and R100 per side per game.

“Our games are always arranged between short distances where players can walk to the local grounds and avoid incurring travel costs,” Mantsheng, explained.