Roosevelt Young Stars have barely been two years on the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association’s books but the club is already making a name for itself.
The team has qualified in its maiden season of the Map Games after beating Happy Birds 3–2 in the preliminaries and secured its passage to the knockout stages.
The club boasts two of the most versatile and talented youngsters, Kgotso ‘Messi’ Mnisi and Thomas ‘Muller’ Molepo, both who ply their trade in the club’s U15 team.
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Kgotso (12), is a Grade 7 Orange Grove-born youngster who goes to Orange Grove Primary School and started playing the beautiful game at the tender age of four with a now defunct Alex club known as Tangent FC.
He’s a die-hard fan of Kaizer Chiefs who loves their newly acquired hot combination of Leonardo Castro, Khama Billiat and Keagan Dolly, known as CBD.
“I am a big fan of Castro but I just love [Lionel] Messi [of FC Barcelona],” said Kgotso, a nimble-footed star who scored a goal in his U15 side’s win of the preliminaries of the Map Games 2018 and went on to score a brace against Bluebirds Ladies junior side.
Bluebirds Ladies had a date with Rand CFC Ladies in their opening Regional Women’s League game at the Alexandra Stadium but that game fell through when the visitors failed to arrive, hence a friendly was quickly organised with the Young Stars side.
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Kgotso said he dreams of a career as a professional footballer. “I have nothing else in my dreams at the moment other than playing football,” he said.
“I also dream of playing for Bafana Bafana and helping our senior national team return to its glory days again.”
Another star in the making is Thomas, a Grade 9 pupil at Realogile High School, who started playing for Young Stars last year when his family relocated to Alex from Ga-Molepo, where he cut his teeth playing football for Moria Super Stars.
Thomas loves his namesake, Germany striker Thomas Muller and the exciting Percy Tau of Mamelodi Sundowns. What Tau does on the pitch for the Brazilians, Thomas tries to match for his U15 side of Young Stars.
