SEDIBENG.- Yours truly, TOUCHLINE was granted an opportunity to be part of Emfuleni selectors to select the OR Tambo Games U/15 Squad over the past weekend, and I can say that this region is blessed when it comes to talented young footballers.
It is not as if TOUCHLINE is not aware of this but over the weekend it was talent galore from all over Emfuleni. To make it sad, out of all those more than 300 players we had to select 18 players for further assessment at regional level. This was the most painful excise in my career to look at those boys and girls being told that they didn’t make it regardless of their talent. This process is too painful for the up-and-coming youngsters even though we can justify it by saying “at the end of the day 18 players must be selected” it is part of football.
TOUCHLINE thinks there must be a better way to do this than telling players in front of others that “you didn’t make it to the final selection.” Those who were part of selectors can attest to this, this is one process that one can’t get used to. There must be a way to prepare these boys and girls mentally for such kind of situations because some of them can be lost forever to football.
For example, on Sunday when the final selection was announced for those who would be representing Sedibeng – all hell broke loose with those boys and girls breaking down in tears especially those who didn’t make it to the final teams. Even though selectors tried to make them to understand, it was hard for them to accept because they know how talented they are. TOUCHLINE thinks there must be a better way to select players. I think one of the best ways to select them is not to announce the team at the same time. I think the best way to announce the team is through clubs. I think this will work better taking into consideration what happened over the weekend with some of these youngsters taking this very hard. It was the ‘end of the world’ for them seeing their friends and teammates being selected. The only problem is that most of the time our selection of regional teams takes place in a short space of time.
The selection of the squad must be a process from the league matches through the season. We should not have to wait until the day when we are being told we must select the squad for Emfuleni or Sedibeng. It must be a process, taking into consideration what happened over the weekend. TOUCHLINE hopes that this situation will be improved to avoid what happened. TOUCHLINE doesn’t blame them taking into consideration how young they are. However, I must say this region is blessed with talent. I was privileged to witness this and selecting some of them who managed to make it to the Sedibeng Regional squad thanks to Coach Tsimo Motsepe and Master Zondo for the trust they had on us for selecting those players and working alongside experienced coaches like Coach Themba and Yster. TOUCHLINE wishes all those boys and girls all the best and make Sedibeng proud!
