Soccer development programmes across the continent are also playing an increasingly important role in equipping our youth with life skills. Launched in 2005, the Spur Masidlale Soccer and Life Skills Training Programme is one such an initiative, and has already reached more than 30,000 children, trained more than 700 coaches and visited more than 100 stadiums in South Africa.
According to Khakhi Diala of the Spur Group, the programme is currently recognised as one of the leading youth soccer development initiatives in the country. "We started with 12 one-day coaching clinics, but the league has grown steadily and has highlighted the huge need for initiatives that provide a platform for youth development. Through the Masidlale programme we teach kids both soccer and life skills and also partner with soccer ambassadors such as the Orlando Pirates team to inspire these youngsters through their personal achievements," says Diala.
The Orlando Pirates Football Club has officially taken on the Masidlale Soccer League as one of their corporate social initiatives.
"As a football club with such rich history and legacy we strive to be more than a soccer organisation, but to also play a part in our local community," says Orlando Pirates PRO, Mickey Modisane. "We therefore without hesitation set this partnership in motion to sponsor soccer kits for various schools playing the Masidlale Soccer League this year."
A total of 60 Spur branded soccer kits were handed out to the teams of Nka-Thuto Primary School (boys and girls), Shalom-Manne Primary School, Sizanani Primary School and Tshebelisanong Primary School. In addition, each team received Adidas soccer balls for training, while the youngsters got the opportunity to rub shoulders with their soccer heroes during an interactive soccer drills and skills training session with the Orlando Pirates squad.
The Orlando Pirates who attended the event included Mpho Makola, Sifiso Myeni, Kermit Erasmus, Happy Jele, Siyabonga Sangweni, Issa Sarr, Patrick Phungwayo and Rooi Mahamutsa.
The official regional launch activations for the 2015 Spur Masidlale League will see more than 200 kids take to the field in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg in April for soccer and life skill sessions. Weekly league meetings over a six-week period between ten boys' and ten girls' teams with kids aged between 9 and 13 will determine the overall winning teams. Each of the 800 participating kids from all regions will receive a Spur-branded kit.
The winning team in each region can look forward to a VIP PSL experience. Not only will they be treated to a Spur lunch, but they will also attend a PSL game as team mascots.
