CEO of the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa, Danny Jordaan was the guest speaker at a workshop held by the Makana Football Workshop Committee (MFWC) at Noluthando Hall on Saturday.
CEO of the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa, Danny Jordaan was the guest speaker at a workshop held by the Makana Football Workshop Committee (MFWC) at Noluthando Hall on Saturday.
"This workshop is the first of its kind for Makana soccer. We are creating history," said Jeff Budaza, the 2010 Coordinator and Sport and Recreation Manager for Makana Municipality.
"We have to go back to grassroots level to look for talent and skills and that’s the only way we can go up," said Jordaan.
He also said that South Africa has a ratio of 1 administrator for every 233 players which he says is a crisis. "The World Cup can’t solve all the problems but it will provide the basis in which we can generate revenue to address those issues."
The aim of the workshop was foremost about bringing the stakeholders of Makana soccer together as well as leaving a legacy for Makana post-2010, hence their slogan, ‘Gearing up for 2010 and beyond’.
The stakeholders are Rhodes University, Makana Municipality, Local Football Association (LFA), the local department of Education and the department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC).
At the meeting each organisation was represented so the public can stay on top of the goals of the the MFWC.
Everyone was given a chance to ask questions after each presentation. The different issues that were covered included the state of JD Dlepu stadium, funds for developing clubs, semi-rural and rural teams, women’s and veteran soccer as well as bringing the stakeholders together so they can make a difference in Makana soccer.
Also, the committee are working on creating a model of the different ages and playing levels which will make the whole soccer league easier to handle.
This pyramid shaped model will be divided into age groups and each group will be the responsibility of one of the stakeholders.
"We will be working on avoiding duplication and make sure that all are catered for," said Budaza. The committee is also planning to make zones for the teams in Alicedale and other surrounding areas as it is financially unviable for some of them to travel to Grahamstown and compete in the whole league.
"There’s only one ladies’ soccer team so there’s no competition for them. We need the MPP and other forums to help us in recruiting more players," said the Secretary of LFA, Thandazile Madinda.
Makana has 24 soccer teams and all of them use JD Dlepu stadium for their matches. Mandla Gagayi, Sports Administrator and assistant manager for Rhodes sport said, "Dlepu is not ideal for our students as they refuse to play there because of the poor playing surface."
He also urged the LFA to meet with him so they could reach a stage where they will be able to work together. "We understand that there’s a big problem with the infrastructure for soccer.
With the partnership between us and the LFA, we could allow some of the matches to be played at Rhodes’ fields," he added.
The meeting also attempted to provide information to the public at large, about who to consult for what.
Also about the responsibilities the stakeholders have, "Local government provides the facilities while DSRAC and Department of Education ensures that there are programmes.
The Sports Council links the two together," said Budaza. DSRAC representative Anga Ngcebetsha said, "Cacadu district municipality subsidises transport and that’s until 2010 but an audited financial statement should be produced for that to happen."
Budaza also urged the stakeholders to open their lines of communication, between themselves as well as the media.
"If the media come to you asking for information, give it to them. ‘No comment’ is a comment on its own and unfortunately, a negative one," he warned.
