SEDIBENG.- This is really painful because at one stage the Boitshepivile teams played under better playing conditions at NWU Vaal. Now players must go back to hard fields to play there just because somebody have powers to do so, at this time and age we still want to see our junior league play at James grounds?

TOUCHLINE has been following the La Liga Promises which is a junior tournament and i must say this is the best programme and it reminds of our own Chappies Little League. This was the best junior league we had in this country even though some people destroyed it with age cheating. For example, players such as Steve “Chippa” Lekoelea, Joseph “China” Masondo to mention just these two grew up playing at FNB Stadium long before they graduated to first teams playing for the now defunct Sebokeng Two For Joy. This league, Chappies Little League, used to play as curtain raisers to the PSL matches at FNB and these youngsters were exposed to better playing conditions at a young age. How things have changed, now our junior leagues must play at James ground just because somebody decides so. There was this NWU Vaal Development League which was one of the best in this region that needed to be supported and adopted by our football structure where the  NWU Vaal selected a squad that would play against Mamelodi Sundowns development, and this is how most of the players were selected. TOUCHLINE feels sorry for those youngsters who are now having to play at James hard soccer grounds taking into consideration what kind of facilities they used to play at.

It is shame to say the least!

Teams don’t have to play in the Gauteng Development League to play on better facilities because not everyone can afford to pay that affiliation fee that can only be afforded by those with big financial muscles and this is a fact, we can’t run away from taking into consideration the state of our football in this country.

So our playing fields must be level as we want to win the world cup as a nation which for now is a mission impossible because we can’t even qualify for the continental tournaments. It is not as if there are no proper playing conditions in this region but because of our egos we want our football to play where we want. James ground is the last option for our league to play there and whoever decided that our league should go play there must hang his head in shame.

We are a generation that destroys its young!