Munsieville football club making magic on the field
The Munsieville Magicians started with nothing but a beat-up soccer ball and a dusty field. Now, the team is taking on big tournaments and making a name for themselves.
Have you ever driven past an open veld on the outskirts of Krugersdorp and wondered what the deal was with a bunch of guys in their dressed-down training gear and badly scuffed-up takkies dribbling a ball over the unkempt field?
One of these groups, you might be surprised to learn, is quite the professional team in the local soccer circuit. This team of players, with their green and canary yellow squad apparel (only worn on competition days), have competed in some of the toughest local tournaments and taken home a couple of trophies in only about two years time.
The Munsieville Magicians Football Club was started late in 2018. Tebogo Moanakwena and a few friends didn’t want to sit around and do nothing during the following Easter Weekend or any other public holiday.
They picked up a soccer ball, got their hands on a few sports cones and made their way to an open field. Why did they decide on the Magicians moniker? Once you see their footwork in the dirt, and the ball swooshing past at lightning speed, you might think you’re seeing magic happen.
Watch here:
Today, the Munsieville Magicians club has grown into a fully recognised club, playing in big local tournaments regularly. In fact, the team won their current jerseys when they placed first at a local competition a short few months after starting up.
“This is a squad,” team coach Tebogo explained. “Some of the players have their own teams they train with.”
Twice a week the various players take a break from their teams, walk a few blocks from Munsieville to a field in Dan Pienaarville and train together. Despite lacking professional equipment and with only a few tattered balls, no grass on the pitch and no goal nets, they are a force to be reckoned with against better-equipped teams.
They explained that they have no actual owner, but that the friends manage the team together. Unfortunately, this also means that they themselves have to cover all costs, such as travelling to and from tournaments and securing equipment.
A few times now, Tebogo noted, they were forced to drop out of a competition as they lacked the funds to participate. They’re hoping to find sponsors soon to help them grow into an even bigger team that can take on the big boys in provincial and national tournaments.
