Soccer club needs help to elevate their game
A soccer club in Chris Nissen Park is making progress to up their skills in the ‘beautiful game’ by competing in a bigger league but needs financial assistance to do so.
The Chris Nissen Park United Football Club recently registered with the Local Football Association League (LFA) and SAFA Cape Town, but this new level of participation brings with it new requirements.
Kelvin Brouers, club chairman, says the request to become part of the LFA came from the club’s players who expressed a desire to participate in league games where they will be exposed to more opportunities to advance their soccer careers.
“Thanks to the grace of God and donations we succeeded and this year will be the first time in history that our players will play in the league under the name Chris Nissen Park United Football Club.”
He says the club is operated as a non-profit and most of the expenses are covered by donors and by management out of their own pockets.
But the financial shortcomings is no hindrance to their progress and so far they team designed a badge, logo and even designed and made team tracksuits. “It was nice to see how the tracksuits draw attention and spark an interest among young men to join our growing club.
“Even support in the community has grown, we have so many new supporters, so it shows we are making progress and it’s good to see.
“But to see this continue we do need financial help to maintain the club because to participate in sport, money is always required and so far, Rayno, Cornelius Phillips (senior coach) and I covered what we can, but this is not always possible but we really love the sport and want to make a difference in the community, so we cannot fail at this,” Kelvin says.
Junior coach Rayno Marais says the club is a platform where young people are kept occupied and prevented from wandering the streets aimlessly at risk of becoming involved in negative activities.
He says the club has more than 50 players in four teams consisting of young and old starting from juniors, under-14’s to under-18 teams and senior teams.
The field on which they practice belong to Hope of Light School, but they have been granted permission to make use of it, something that Rayno is grateful for.
“We want the children to train and play professionally but this is a bit difficult because most of the parents of our players are unemployed,” says Rayno.
He says the teams have already kick-started the soccer season with a few games played and more lined up. The senior team triumphed in their most recent match, he shares proudly.
Kelvin says Chris Nissen Park has always been known for their local soccer talent. “Soccer is a sport that the people of our community love very much and are very good at, it goes way back to our forefathers, our brothers, uncles, and grandparents playing soccer we grew up with them playing the sport.
“You get a lot of different circumstances in Chris Nissen Park, and this is the chance for us to rekindle a love for the sport among our young people again and for them to realise that something good can come out of Chris Nissen Park,” he says.
With the club he says, their goals are to make the youth believe in themselves again, cultivate respect for one another and create a sense of brotherhood among young boys and men who have grown up together.
The club needs help with either sponsorships or donations for soccer balls, soccer boots, training equipment, water bottles and soccer kits for senior and junior teams.
Anyone who can assist can contact Kelvin on 073 025 4503 or Rayno on 083 950 2768.
