Regional football needs a push

Internal politics at the Ilembe South African Football Association (SAFA) and lack of sports commitment in schools are holding back the growth of football in the Ilembe region, according to regional SAFA president Hlelizwe Mhlongo.

Interviewed last week Mhlongo, who is principal at Mvuzane Primary School, said “The politics within SAFA in the district make it hard to see growth or progress in regional football. We also don’t have qualified coaches at the grassroots level. Even if programs are initiated we lack sponsors and of course, infrastructure is also a big problem.”

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Although there is an SAB league, which is the biggest league in the region, there are no leagues for young boys and girls that are producing players for the teams in the SAB league, a problem that needs to be looked at.

“We do have talent in the region but we are failing to promote it. Ilembe soccer team took the third position in the recent SALGA games and we recently had a player from Darnall who was recruited by Kaizer Chiefs. That tells you we do have talent, but people are not aware of these things.”

Sport in schools needs to be reintroduced and teachers must be prepared to sacrifice their time to train pupils.

“Schools have a big role in producing good soccer players, but we end up having children who are very talented in soccer or any other sport not knowing where to embrace their talent because his or her school is not sport active.”

 Mhlongo said there is a great need for a regional soccer stadium in KwaDukuza that will meet SAFA standards.

In that way, KwaDukuza will be able to host any big soccer match.

“But I must emphasise that we are slowly making progress in sorting out politics within regional SAFA and we call for businesses to please assist us by sponsoring the programmes that are initiated to groom the young soccer players,” said Mhlongo.

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