African United Sports Club is reaching out to the community for a helping hand.
“Our club is situated in the heart of Marathon informal settlement, in Primrose,” said the founder of the club, Erick Zikhali.
“The club was established in 2010 and it has been growing from strength to strength.
“I have built 16 soccer teams since and all teams are progressing steadily.
“The only challenge the club is faced with at the moment is the lack of funds, we are in serious need of funds.”
Zikhali told the GCN that they only managed to obtain a training area in 2014.
“After writing letters to the metro, we were then given ground,” he explained.
“We appreciate what the metro did for us.
“The other challenge we are faced with is that the field tends to get small for all the 16 teams and we are also unable to incorporate other sporting codes due to the lack of resources.
“We have a lot of youngsters who have shown interest in playing netball, volleyball and other sporting codes, however, the lack of bigger and proper training facilities cripples us from fully extending to such codes.”
Zikhali said the club has produced great players who have been scouted by bigger teams.
“One of our players, Dumile Phiko, went to the Bidvest Wits Football Club’s trials in February, last year, where he was selected for their u-19 side,” said Zikhali.
“We are proud of him, we want to groom these youngsters for bigger and better opportunities and to become the best they can be.”
“It is great to be playing for a Premiere Soccer League (PSL) club; but I couldn’t have done it without the help and support of Zikhali and all that he has taught me,” said Phiko.
“I have learnt a lot from the time I spent as an African United player.
“It is just painful to watch the circumstances the teams have to play under.
“The players get hurt because there is no grass; it would be nice if they could get grass carpet on their training field.”
Zikhali said that although they try and raise funds, more is needed.
“We try and manage with what we have but it is really not easy,” he said.
“We need gear, better training premises, transportation for when we play away games and training equipment among other things.
“At some point we had to use a train to attend a tournament, this was a challenge as most of our teams were invited to play and transporting all those children in a public train was not safe because we feared some would get lost.
“We were left without a choice because we didn’t have funds for private transport, however, with the help of the coaches we managed to travel safely and together.
“The club will appreciate and accept any form of help from anybody and any company.
“Please help us help our young stars reach for the sky.”
For more information contact Zikhali on 076 033 0972.
