New Easterns CEO ready to hit new year out of the park
Becoming CEO of Easterns has always been a dream for him.
At the beginning of November, Mpho Seopa was appointed the new CEO of Easterns cricket.
Seopa is a familiar face on the SA sporting scene, having served Mamelodi Sundowns FC as sponsorship manager, Kaizer Chiefs FC as business development manager and he played for Moroka Swallows, one of the oldest football teams in the country. Seopa also competed in trials at Ajax and was unfortunately injured in the process.
“This is when my beloved parents showed me the school door,” said Seopa.
When he first found out he was being appointed, he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“I was silent. It felt so surreal as you always dream about these kinds of things happening to you, but you never fully believe it will.
“Once reality sank in, it was an amazing feeling,” he said.
But what made Seopa most ecstatic about taking this position? Is it a difficult job to persevere in?
“I always wanted to be involved in sports admin, its where I thrive.
“For me, sports isn’t just for entertainment or an extra-mural, it’s a business,” he said.
Benoni has many sporting adventures to look forward too in the near future as Seopa’s goals list just keeps growing.
He is excited to share with Easterns and Benoni his intentions.
“My first priority is, of course, to see Easterns win.
“We need to have a competitive team.
“Administratively, I would like to tick the box on governance and definitely fill the Sahara Willowmoore Park, which is the home ground for Easterns cricket,” he said.
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Easterns won the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Provincial T20 title for Benoni, a career best of 87 off 53 balls by Wesley Marshall (South African cricketer and part of the Easterns team) and strong display in the field paved the way for Easterns to win a CSA Provincial T20 final when they edged out KwaZulu-Natal Inland by five runs on September 24. This is the momentum that Seopa would like to maintain.
“We want to keep with the upward trajectory,” he said.
Still to look forward to this year, Easterns will be hosting England while they do their preparations and training for their tour in December.
Matches will be hosted at Willowmoore.
The new year will bring the ICC u-19 Cricket World Cup and the Australian women’s team will be coming to take on the Proteas, which will also be held at Willowmoore stadium. The u-19 world cup will see its top six teams compete against each other at Willowmoore as well as the final game being played there, and cricket fans are encouraged to join these auspicious occasions.
In Seopa’s short time as CEO of Easterns, he has experienced much joy and excitement as he spends his time learning more every day of the culture at Easterns and assisting in the culture, living up to its excellence on and off the field.
“We try to be competitive in everything we do,” he said.
As Seopa takes his place, he has many things that he looks forward too in his new position.
“I am very excited that we can start becoming fully professional, such as buying new players, assembling the right team and keeping up to the Easterns standard of cricket. There are many exciting challenges ahead and I look forward to every one of them,” he said.
The most exciting event of this year is when Easterns welcomes the current ODI world champions, England, to their home ground.
“We are hoping this is South Africa’s year and we would love for the public to come out in their numbers to support us,” said Seopa.
To view all fixtures and results for Easterns cricket visit www.easternscricket.co.za
