The 2014 Spur Masidlale Soccer League is back again with more than 800 children and more than 70 coaches all set for another thrilling soccer season.
Launched in 2005, the league has touched the lives of more than 30 000 children by teaching them both soccer and life skills, developed and groomed more than 700 coaches and visited over 100 stadia in South Africa.
Only local community coaches were selected in each region to join the programme with the assistance of the local Departments of Sport and Recreation.
The training courses are run by UEFA coaching licence holder, Mathias Himmelreicher who has a degree in coaching science and football.
Himmelreicher said that the Spur Masidlale programme was certainly achieving its key objective to empower both coaches and players.
“I’ve been involved in quite a few development projects over the years, but these projects were normally only one day events.
“The Spur Masidlale League is special to me as the programme runs over a 12-week period and it is not only a normal soccer league with weekly matches, but a development programme that includes teaching soccer skills and even more importantly life skills.
“It creates jobs for coaches and gives passionate individuals the opportunity to get involved within their community,” said Himmelreicher.
Khakhi Diala of the Spur Group said the programme is currently recognised as one of the leading youth soccer development initiatives in the country.
He said the league has grown steadily and has highlighted the huge need for initiatives that provide a platform for youth development. A total of 10 schools have been selected in four regions where regional activations will be followed by weekly league meetings over a nine-week period, which will see 200 children taking to the field each week. Each region will cater for 10 boys and 10 girls’ teams with children aged between nine and 13 taking part. Each of the participating children will receive a Spur-branded kit.
