Soccer with pots and pans

Dinner was never the same for his mom after local boy Daniel Coetsee started using her pots and pans for soccer practice.

Born and bred in Ballito, the 25-year-old is passionate about his soccer.

Coetsee told the Courier his love of the beautiful game came when he was just four or five years old.

“My dad lived in the UK when I was growing up and on my first visit to him he took me to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea play Coventry City and the rest is history.

“After that my mom used to shout at me as I was forever kicking a soccer ball in the house and I used to take all the pots and pans out the kitchen, put them on the lawn to use as cones and weave in and out with the ball.”

When he is not on the field, Coetsee is a public speaker who helps students get in the right mind-set with regards to studies.

“I help them learn how to manage their time better, develop memory skills and more.”

He works with various schools across KZN, including Crawford North Coast, Crawford La Lucia, Maritzburg College, St Annes, Kearsney and Wykham to name a few.

Coetsee has also coached the girls’ first soccer team at Ashton for past three years, losing only one match (not including tournaments).

Aside from soccer, he was also a big fan of hockey and cricket in his school days, winning Cricketer Of The Year and representing KZN Hockey during his time at Umhlali Primary.

He went to boarding school at Maritzburg College for five years, then completed his tertiary education at Vega School of Brand Building and Leadership.

Coetsee has been with the Ballito Football Club since it started two years ago and is one of the founding members. His previous club was Uthongathi FC, which plays in the National First Division (NFD).

“I also signed a one-year contract to play for a club in Mpumalanga called Benfica FC in 2015.”

Coetsee told the Courier he is a Chelsea supporter (although we all know ManUtd are the best, just saying…) and his favourite player is Eden Hazard.

“I just really enjoy watching the ease with which he plays the game.”

One of his prized memories was being a part of the Uthongathi side that won promotion from the ABC Motsepe League (semi-pro) to the NFD (pro).

“We won the play-offs in East London and won R1 million, beating the Super Eagles (Free-State) 1-0.

“Arriving back in Tongaat after winning promotion to NFD, we needed a police escort to get us safely through the streets which were crowded with fans; the main street in town was even closed for the occasion. It was awesome to see how much it meant for the people of the town.”

Coetsee said he loves going out on the field an expressing himself.

“I like to visualize on the morning of the match, visualize myself making good runs, giving good passes, scoring goals.”

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