Drivers must have a licence, says Philippi soccer coach
Two-time Bayhill under-19 Premier Cup winner, and current Grassy Park United head coach, Mangaliso “Shakes” Ntombana, from Philippi, is targeting his third title, as teams are getting ready for this year’s tournament, in Belhar, from Wednesday April 13 to Monday April 18.
Ntombana will be on the Grassy Park bench along with the side’s under-19 coach Ryan Steers and the rest of their technical team.
The event didn’t take place in the last two years due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns. This year, 32 teams divided into eight groups of four, will battle it out in Erica Park over six days.
Ntombana won the tournament with Philippi United in 2012 and Glendene United in 2015.
In fact, he’s no stranger to winning trophies and the list of his achievements is endless, including Safa Cape Town’s Coke Cup, with Glendene. He also won the Kenpark under-23 tournament three times.
However, he is aware that Grassy Park’s technical team will have their work cut out in Belhar as they are in tough Group E alongside Wits University, Safa-Cape Town Academy and Rebels FC.
He admitted that the going will be tough in this year's tournament, noting that he is privileged to get a chance to guide Steers, a former Grassy Park player.
Ntombana said he is motivated by the love of working with children and helping them grow to their full potential.
“So, that’s why my long-term goals include developing as many children, at least here in Philippi, as we need to produce a few professional footballers, like Nyanga does. We, as coaches at grassroots level, must start teaching children basics from an early age. So, LFA’s need to have teams from under- 7 to under-10,” he said.
“I also believe that drivers must have a licence, meaning that we encourage all coaches to attend coaching courses. I am planning to complete my coaching courses, So next year I need to do my CAF A licence,” he said.
The tactician has been coaching since 2000. He started out at Red Lion FC, before moving on to Philippi United, then Glendene, Trojan and Grassy Park.
“The first guy who guided me a lot was the late Simo Bokfell until Duren Francis recruited me to Philippii United and continued guiding me,” he said.
Ntombana also insists that South Africa is not doing badly in terms of producing talented youngsters.
“I just think we can do a lot more to improve standard of our football and as I stated earlier, the moment all drivers have their licences then the standard of football will improve, especially in disadvantaged communities”
“In Germany, for instance, no one is allowed to coach without papers, so that means only those who are serious about coaching get a chance, even at grassroots level. Even us here in disadvantaged communities, we need to seat down all coaches and help each other as we are all students of the game. We have guys like Masonwabe Mbazo( from Langa), Scara Matiwane (Gugs), Siza Gola (Delft), Tandwa Mveleli (Delft), Khanyo Majezi (Philippi), Msekeli Mvalo (Nyanga), Gareth Ncaca (Langa), Gabriel Nkanti (philippi) and many more.”