By Chris Totobela
Makana LFA Premier League games were postponed over the weekend of 13 and 14 May owing to bad weather conditions. This seemed to be a blessing in disguise as the Makhanda football fraternity had the chance to reflect on the current state of our local football. Many football fans, including many officials, believe that Makhanda has not reached the standard it is well known for and that the standard of football has dropped dismally instead. Grocott’s Mail spoke to some prominent football people about this reality.
Rhodes University sports administrator, and executive member of Maru FC, Siya Dumiso shared his views, saying “The main factor is selfishness. We as leaders, coaches, and administrators are all about us, and not necessarily about the development of football in Makhanda. We only focus on what will benefit us individually. It is true that we have great talent here, but we don’t get along. Jealousy and negativity are killing our football. A football indaba is needed urgently.”
Football legend and current Black Stars chairman, Andile Mpulani echoed the same sentiments. “During our time, we had mature and dignified people in the office, not youngsters. We had sponsors like Osher Bros, Autumn Harvest, Ohlsons and others. Football and netball used to be played on one field”.
Mpulani added that footballers were disciplined then, unlike today’s players who even lack passion. “It is true but very sad that our football has been going down over the last few years. The current office bearers need to wake up and go and look for sponsors as we cannot afford to play league games only. The only football field in town does not even deserve to be called a stadium, especially in that condition. There is a lot that needs to be done by our office to try and correct the current state of our football”, said Mpulani.
Makana Tigers coach and chairman and Makana Citizen’s Front councillor, Tandisizwe Matebese, believes that there is more than enough talent in Makhanda but the infighting among club officials is killing our football. “There are no proper junior structures in our teams and there are no properly trained coaches. Ex-football players turned their back on football as soon as they retired, instead of sharing their knowledge with the current players”.
Matebese added that there are no tournaments at all in Makhanda as teams play league games only and use their affiliation fees as prizes. “The lack of facilities is also holding us back. We need to have our selected squads play against other LFA’s squads. There is too much gap between the LFA and the SAB clubs. SAB clubs coaches don’t even come and watch LFA games,” said Matebese.
SAB regional league participants and coaches agree that our football has not reached its potential and that is the reason why we struggle to produce one team that will participate in the ABC Motsepe league. Jacaranda Aces coach and chairman Asanda Koliti says that our football is in a mess. “There is a lack of unity and we only wish bad things for each other. For example, when we were promoted to the SAB regional league, we were told by fellow Makhandans that we were going to be relegated before we had even kicked the ball. We have many talented players in Makhanda, especially under 21s that are needed for this league, but our fellow club administrators and coaches are pulling in different directions and not willing to assist SAB teams. That is the reason why we, together with Maru and City Pirates, go beyond Makhanda to look for players. Coaching clinics are needed for our local coaches and we also need to have all our referees attend a level one course just to learn the basics,” said Koliti.
Koliti added that he believes referees in Makhanda are very poor and that is why some teams struggle when their games are officiated by neutral referees. “The long break is also killing our football as you cannot afford to have teams that stay for five months or more without kicking a ball as there are no local tournaments. The issue of football fields is another factor that is contributing to the mess that we find ourselves in,” he added.
Maru coach Andile Bobotyana blamed a lack of discipline for our current situation. “All the teams are complaining about the lack of discipline in our players. Talent alone will never work in any sport, players need to be disciplined. We as leaders of our teams need to put egos aside and work together to improve the current situation.”
A Joza Callies coach who has helped many teams in the past, believes that without unity nothing will come right. “As long as we pull in different directions we will go nowhere. We see that our fellow coaches are struggling in their teams but we stand back and watch and laugh at them instead of helping them”, he said.
Former Santos FC defender and coach and now an enthusiastic football follower, Xolela Tyelbooi, believes that local football has been dying a slow death while each and every one of us is minding their own business. “The only solution that will help us remedy the situation is to have one strong Makhanda team that will belong to all of us, and for us to identify coaches and administrators that will be responsible for the team. The reason why we are not progressing is that we want to do things alone, or with a group of friends who think they know more about football than everyone else. We need an urgent soccer indaba involving all the football-loving people of Makhanda, stakeholders, coaches, and administrators. We need to set our differences aside and rescue the situation before it is too late” said Tyelbooi.
Makana LFA chairman, Afika Adam, says there are many contributing factors to the current state of football. “We have talented players who play for fun and are not ambitious enough to turn professional. Our clubs lack proper planning on how to get to the ABC Motsepe league – they only play to keep their status in the SAB regional league. Players will obviously lose focus if their management is divided. Teams need to merge and form one team that will focus on getting to the ABC Motsepe league. The revival of school football will also help in this regard. We also need local businesses to support our local clubs. We need qualified coaches who know how to win the league before it even starts,” Adam said.
Responding to the complaints that there is a lack of competition for local soccer teams, Makana LFA general secretary and head of competitions, Akhona Heshu, disagreed that there were not enough tournaments. “Just recently we had a Top Eight and a champ of champs competition. We would have had an Easter tournament if the Dlepu stadium was available. Yes, there is not much happening in our Junior Leagues but we have trophies for the Under-13 and Under-15 leagues. The major challenge is the field. I also agree that we don’t have sponsors as we have to use our own money at times,” said Heshu. He added that any football indaba would be the responsibility of the LFA to organise with the assistance of the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture.
Makhanda’s football fraternity has spoken – the LFA has admitted that our football is in a dire state and that something needs to happen sooner. The recent Sarah Baartman SAB regional league play-offs that were held at Rhodes without any team from Makhanda were a painful reminder of our dying football. One thing that all parties agree on is that a football indaba is needed urgently in order to save our dying football. Our teams have played in the SAB regional league for as long as I can remember but without any success as it always just ended there.
We need to get off our high horses and come to the ground and work together for the sake of our up and coming youngsters. It is a disgrace to see that Makhanda has failed to produce even a single professional player in the last decade. It is even worse to notice that, even with our rich talent and history, Makhanda has not produced a single ABC Motsepe league team.
