Needs help: UWC coach Thinasonke Mbuli Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
In Thinasonke Mbuli, UWC institution has a high-calibre coach with a direct line to Banyana Banyana boss Desiree Ellis as her assistant for the last seven years.
It’s probably a good idea that the Cape’s best sports talent is at UWC and benefit from the variety of scholarships on offer.
But nooooo, that’s not how things work here innie Kaap, as local clubs don’t want to allow their players to join UWC as easily as one might assume.
It’s a tricky situation that needs to be properly managed and avoid the frustration in allowing a player to move on or get selected.
ᴅɪᴅ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ꜱᴀʏ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ?🤩
— 𝗨![CDATA[]]>𝗪![CDATA[]]>𝗖 𝗦![CDATA[]]>𝗣![CDATA[]]>𝗢![CDATA[]]>𝗥![CDATA[]]>𝗧 (@UWCSport) December 8, 2023
Making a clean sweep into the final our ladies set the standards. Facing @TuksSport for 𝙩![CDATA[]]>𝙝![CDATA[]]>𝙚 𝙡![CDATA[]]>𝙖![CDATA[]]>𝙨![CDATA[]]>𝙩 𝙙![CDATA[]]>𝙖![CDATA[]]>𝙣![CDATA[]]>𝙘![CDATA[]]>𝙚 let’s see where the trophy will go 🏆#WeAreUWCSport | #USSAFootballChamps pic.twitter.com/90zPrmuJsX
At times those invitations don’t even reach the player or parents, and instead it’s held back by the local team they play for.
Mbuli also understands that from uDubs a move to a better paying club is inevitable because the institution can only really offer a stipend with access to free education added to it.
She tells Diski Business: “The vice-chancellor here will rightly tell you that our core business is education. They make sure your education is taken care of.”
At the moment it’s only champions Mamelodi Sundowns that can really offer a proper salary that players can live off. Royal AM and TS Galaxy are decent options but they don’t have the Motsepe Foundation’s deep pockets.
Mbuli has a nice mix of cultures, different shades of melanin that made up the squad that was training at Erica Park, but there was a lack of Cape flavour.
It’s something that bothers the coach because she has identified two strikers to sharpen her attack.
She explains: “And that is where we are lacking the most, in attack but I can’t get those players because their clubs don’t want to make it possible.
“When someone looks at the team from outside, they see the coach that is not from Cape Town, and there’s no players from Cape Town. But the truth is that we can’t recruit here!”
She bemoans the lack of corporation with the local Sasol and Regional League teams for the young Kaapse talent to gain access to the scholarships.
It’s the cancer that has eaten up local amateur football, and there seems to be no co-operative solution to the movement of young players.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za
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