VLFA prepares for the new league season

The Vosloorus Local Football Association (VLFA) Super League invites interested Vosloorus football clubs to join the 2023/24 league season, which kicks off on October 6.

The affiliation fee is R2 000. Registering one to 25 players will cost R15, and 26 and more players cost clubs R60.

The VLFA has six executive members, namely chairperson Jabulani Nkosi, first vice-chairperson Promise Zulu, second vice-chairperson Lebogang Molotsi, secretary Stehmbiso Msibi, finance officer Lindokuhle Nkabinde and referee chairperson Den Ndlovu.

Nkosi said at least 28 clubs formed part of the VLFA Super League. He anticipated more clubs joining in the upcoming season.

He said they agreed with club managers to divide the teams into two streams so each stream would have 14 teams.

The winners in both streams had to face each other to determine which team would represent the VLFA in the playoffs in the first week of August.

“In stream A, we had Revelation Spurs, which lost 2-1 against Kathorus Juventus in the first leg. They won 1-0 in the second leg. The aggregate score was in favour of Juventus, and they were the overall winners,” said Nkosi.

He said they did not expect anything less than 20 teams for the coming season, citing that, unlike the regional league, teams did not have to qualify to compete.

“That is why we communicate very early so teams have enough time to raise the affiliation fee and prepare the registration documents.”

VLFA achievement

The VLFA executive committee, elected in 2018, were to serve a second term under the leadership of Nkosi.

Nkosi said the VLFA increased the number of teams, booked the stadium for teams to play on a grass pitch, introduced six young referees and took them to school. They formed a squad and proposed that all LFAs should help expose players to bigger clubs.

He said when they started in 2018, they had 11 teams in the super league and played on gravel pitches.

“The first thing we did was to say if the super league is played on gravel fields for the whole season, then the same team is expected to play the playoffs on a grass pitch.

“The Men’s Regional League, or the ABC Motsepe League, is played on a grass pitch. If we are not providing a proper pitch for the players, then we are not doing justice to the teams. We thought the least we could do was give the teams a grass pitch. They played the first round on gravel, and the second round centralized all the games at Vosloorus Stadium,” he said.

He said they made a seasonal booking at the stadium, but it did not come cheap as they had to cough up R13 000 without a sponsor.

“We relied on the teams’ affiliation. We created Friday night football where we charge spectators R5 at the gate to raise money.

“We also have teams that play the regional league. We charge them because everyone playing at the stadium plays via the LFA. I think it amounts to approximately R3 500 for a season, which is very helpful in raising those funds.”

He said another achievement was to get rid of the old registration system, where players used paper cards to register on My SAFA via iNqaku.

“All our players have been registered since 2019. The advantage of iNqaku is that if a player gets registered with a professional team, the teams that developed the player can claim a developmental allowance,” he said.

Nkosi encouraged the club managers to do the right thing by developing players because one day they will be rewarded. Previously anyone could take a player with or without your knowledge.

Challenges

The main challenge for VLFA is the lack of funding. This is not limited to VLFA because other Kathorus-based LFAs like Thokoza Local Football Association and Katlehong Local Football Association have the same challenge.

Nkosi said they heavily rely on affiliation fees. The junior teams pay between R500 to R600, which is nearly nothing because, at the end of the season, they are expecting prizes.

He said the lack of support from parents also hinders the growth of LFAs

“Another challenge is the coaches who fail to understand their role in development football. We are trying but it is not enough. I am happy that the technical director of SAFA nationally said the listing of badges has to start from the LFA level,” he continued.

“Our coaches have to understand their role because once we get it wrong from the development, we cannot expect miracles from Bafana Bafana.”

He said the bulk of responsibilities lay with development coaches. That is why they are trying their best to provide them with training.

He further noted their role is to develop and they had to get rid of the winning mentality.

“The majority of the coaches are former players. They usually assume that they will be able to achieve everything they failed to achieve as a player,” he added.

“They end up cheating by fielding older players in the lower division because they want to win at all costs. That is a shortcut and being selfish, but it has improved a lot as much as it was a serious challenge before.”

Eskom’s load-shedding has also affected the VLFA, preventing them from hosting the Friday night games.
The VLFA affiliation period will run from July 31 to September 30.

According to the association, the new season will kick off with the top eight clubs from last the season. All players must submit registration forms and updated ID photos. All documents must be scanned.

Prizes include R10 000, 30 gold medals and trophies for the winners and R5 000 and 30 silver medals for the runners-up.

For more information, contact Nkosi at 061 695 2806 or Msibi at 062 710 8352 or email Voslolfa@yahoo.com