The newly founded Springs Tigers Football Club competed in the Serengeti HP Football Club Tournament in Kempton Park on October 11.

They emerged champions in a tournament that featured 14 clubs from the East Rand. The team, founded last March, saw its U7 squad finish second in the Easterns Local Football Association (ELFA) League Three Division earlier this season.

Chairperson and coach Shalom Mazibuko told the Springs Advertiser that most of the children in the U7 team had never played soccer and needed development, which highlights the club’s commitment to nurturing young talent.

This is the club’s first tournament victory. He said the boys impressed everyone at the tournament, adding that they had developed quickly, despite many having only begun to play soccer this season.

“When we first started, we suffered many defeats, and one couldn’t tell that this would be the team to win something this season,” said Mazibuko.

Mazibuko said he and coach Whitey Motsamai were honoured to train the boys and believed they were destined for greater things. He added that, having coached for many years, this was the best U7 team he has worked with.

Mazibuko said that as a soccer club, they aim to develop players to compete professionally in the future. Their training programmes support this vision.

“We are a team where children play freely, with no pressure for immediate results, because we are focused on developing talent. One of our beliefs is, ‘We love kids before we coach them’. That way, they play freely without fear of making mistakes on the field,” said the chairperson.

He said the club has 70 registered players across five divisions: U7, U8, U10, U11 and U12. The plan is to expand to U6 through to U17 divisions in the 2026 season.

He added that training sessions are on Tuesdays and Fridays. The club is currently on a season break and will resume early next year. Its home ground is at Selpark Primary School.

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