Since its groundbreaking launch earlier this year, the Betway 12th Man project is making headway with its program of empowering and upskilling 10 selected former soccer professionals.
The program, which is a first of its kind in South African football, has imparted invaluable skills to the participants to help them make a meaningful difference in their communities as ex-footballers.
Over the past two months, the former footballers have acquired skills in the fields of administration, broadcast media, financial management, and club administration.
Former Moroka Swallows player, Andries ‘Chaka Chaka’ Mpondo said the initiative had exposed him to a totally new world outside of the playing field.
“Being a part of this program has opened my eyes to the endless opportunities that exist out there. This is really an exciting journey of learning that we have embarked on and I am looking forward to acquiring even more skills in the next few months.”
Spearheaded by former Bafana Bafana skipper Lucas ‘Rhoo’ Radebe, who’s the ’11th man’ in the project and sponsor Betway the ’12th man’, Radebe said the next phase of the programme shifted focus to project management.
The two-day module was designed to expose the participants to the challenging world of developing and rolling out a project or event which in football terms can also refer to a tournament.
“This was another interesting module for the legends who for most parts of their lives, have been exposed to playing and coaching. “Project management will assist the legends in understanding tournament planning, managing finances around projects, which is something they will implement back home,” said Radebe.
Part of the module involved participants making a trip to Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe stadium for a match between SuperSport United and Polokwane City.
The purpose of the experience was for the legends to give feedback on the various project management aspects identified in the execution of a football event such as security, marketing, media and all logistics involved in project management.
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