PIENAAR – Thembisa United Football club recently hosted a soccer tournament called Sports Against Crime. It is aimed at nurturing and building future football stars and preventing drug abuse in this community.
Speaking to the event organizer, Timothy Mthethwa, he stated they realised the importance of football in their area as the crime rate and the use of drug substances were very high.
“Our young boys around our location being exposed to dagga, nyaope and other substances. We decided to challenge them on the soccer field, and this helped them to spend more time on the field of play and showcase their talent,” he said.
He added that the mission and vision of their tournament was to alleviate the area of crime and substance abuse. It also served to unveil football talent among them.
“This tournament is also meant to assist other local football clubs in identifying talent, like our local team Musa FC, and we also aim to build a new team that will participate in other developmental streams of soccer in Mpumalanga,” said Mthethwa.
Musa FC’s coach, Musa Singwayo who was sitting on the touchline, observing the game, said he hadn’t as yet identified any players, as most of the players were exposed to drugs and crime and it became difficult to recruit them.
“The problem we face with such players is that they don’t come to training sessions, but we hope to identify some good players. Musa FC just lack a few players. We’re looking forward to identifying new ones,” said Singwayo.
He urged members of the public to support local football and work together to assist good players to become professional footballers.
The final match between Thembisa United and Msingo FC saw Thembisa United walk away with the prize money of R480.
Speaking to the man of the match, Simanga Vilakazi, he said it was wonderful for the team to win. “It was very important for us to win this match, and we aim to win more games and become the best team ever in our location.”
