Playing ‘The Beautiful Game’ on an uneven pitch

FAR away from the bright lights and majesty of the Moses Mabhida Stadium lies an improvised soccer field. A soccer ball bounces unevenly off the surface, the field itself is made up of a hard clay and sandy patches, a veritable dust bowl, the goalposts are bamboo shoots lashed together with string.

Some feet are bare, others shod in fraying sneakers and rubber sandals, however there is no fear as children kick and chase a soccer ball that has seen better days. Yet the children play with skilful abandon for the sheer pleasure of playing ‘The Beautiful Game’. The passion triumphs their poverty.

This is the Briardene Informal Settlement, where more than 70 children use the soccer field after school and on the weekends.

“We’d love to play on a green field, it would change everything,” Manqoba Ntanzi succintly sums up. The 15-year-old Orlando Pirates fan and Briardene resident said soccer offers him an escape from the grisly reality of the settlement.

“Soccer offers me a different avenue to explore, one away from the whoonga drug and other bad stuff here. It’s the same for the younger boys, we have a dream we feel we can achieve.”

His friend, Sabelo Mbhele, said when the makeshift field gets wet, it becomes a problem.

“When it rains, it gets muddy and the field is flooded. Which makes it unplayable. We train on other grounds in Greenwood Park because our toes bear the brunt of some tough tackles and the hard ground,” Mbhele said.

Bruce Zondi, a member of the Briardene Youth Centre (BYC), an NPO that uses sport as a social development tool, appealed to Durban North and uMhlanga residents for help with greening the field.

“It would mean a new beginning for the children. They will play on any surface, but we would love some help in greening the field but also help in other areas. We would love to have wooden poles and perhaps a way to mark out the field,” Zondi said.

If you would like to help contact the Northglen News on 031 572 3749.