By Chris Totobela
In this week’s Heritage Month feature, we reflect on one of the longest serving coaches in local football and one of the most underrated tacticians Makhanda has ever produced.
Mzwandile Ntlanjeni, affectionately known as Louis in football circles, comes from a family with a rich sporting history. He got involved in football at a very young age while he was still at NV Cewu Primary School.
Ntlanjeni established a soccer team and named it Swallows, which became the feeder team to Joza Callies, popularly known as AmaKenya.
Ntlanjeni played with the likes of Xolisile “Maradona” Booi, Mthuthuzeli “Valdez” Booi and the late Vuyisile “Jomo” Nyenge, who later graduated to the first team of Joza Callies.
Ntlanjeni moved up to Joza Callies’ second team before being promoted to the first team where he played just a handful of games and suffered a serious injury, breaking his arm. “I was beginning to enjoy my game when I broke my arm and that was a turning point as I completely lost interest in playing”.
Unable to continue as a player, Ntlanjeni turned to coaching, although he did not take it seriously then, until his high school days at Ntsika Secondary. He made his mark in the Telkom Cup that was played by both schools and clubs where he was drafted into the technical teams of both Ntsika and Callies.
He ended up assisting his late uncle at Joza Callies, Misile “Krismesi” Ntlanjeni and Buyisile Jonas at Ntsika. The two were the coaches of the two respective teams. Both of the teams went through to the finals and took home the trophies.
Ntlanjeni was voted the best coach in the tournament, but chose not to take the accolade. “I did not take my medals from both sides as a sign of respect to the coaches I assisted.”
He started coaching Joza Callies’ senior side while he was still very young. “I was still a boy when I started coaching Joza Callies and I was coaching players that were much older than me. But the respect they gave me was unbelievable and that also persuaded me to take coaching very seriously.”
He coached a Makhanda selected side that was knocked out in the last eight in a major tournament held in Gqeberha. He also coached a Makana LFA U19 squad that lost in the final of the provincial championships, also held in Gqeberha. Ntlanjeni coached Joza Callies to a fourth place finish in the Mayor’s Cup and was later voted coach of the tournament. But to this day, he has never received his trophy.
Ntlanjeni won three Albany Sports tournament cups in a row and has taken Callies to top four finishes in the league on many occasions. He is not just a coach. The football fanatic is also involved in the administration of football, and is the current chairman of the local branch of Mamelodi Sundowns supporters. “I got my inspiration from people like Chris Totobela who have been involved in football for a very long time and have done very well with his team. He has held his team together with the vast experience and knowledge he has in both coaching and administration of football and that kept me going.”
Ntlanjeni’s love of sport is not only restricted to football. He is also a big fan of Easterns Rugby Club and has recently been elected president of Masibambane Boxing Club. He also shared his views on the current state of local football. “I think our football is going nowhere if we continue like this. We are not united as everyone is doing his own thing, trying to outshine the other. When local teams are playing against teams from out of Makhanda, you always see a section of the fans supporting the visiting team instead of the home side.
“Our leaders need to look for sponsors as it is financially draining to run our clubs out of our own pockets and not get any value for that. For example, we paid R750 for affiliation fees and we have just paid R400 for the Heritage tournament, and all this money comes from one’s pocket and this is too much. There is nothing motivating young people to come and play football as there is absolutely nothing to play for. We received money from Lotto many years ago and no one knows what happened to it as that money would have made a lot difference, and we need to unite and go to the relevant authorities and find out about that money.”
Ntlanjeni concluded by thanking a few people. “I would like to first thank Luvuyo Mjekula and Chris Totobela for providing us with an opportunity to share our journey with the readers in this Heritage Month, this clearly shows that they acknowledge the role that we played in our different sports codes in Makhanda and they make us feel appreciated. I would also like to thank many people who played a role in shaping me to become the man that I am today.”
Ntlanjeni told Grocott’s Mail that the young up-and-coming coaches and administrators have a huge responsibility of changing the current state of local football. Unless that is done, says Ntlanjeni, our football will definitely go nowhere.
