Wits University has found it difficult so far in its quest to seek maximum points, in their opening four encounters of the 2022 Varsity Football competition. This, however, has not deterred the ambitions of Wits head coach Alzavian van Rheede, who still believes the work they have put in, will soon propel the young Wits outfit back to winning ways.
Coach Alzavian is no stranger to Wits University or football after having had a career as a professional player before turning into a coach. His playing career as a left/right winger and later in his career in defence saw him at Wits University at U17, U19, and reserve level under the stewardship of coaches Roger de Sa and Eric Tinkler. He also featured in the Kaizer Chiefs reserves set up under the legendary late coach Ryder Mofokeng, whilst also having great stints at Alex United (ABC Motsepe League) and Palmeros FC (SAB) under the late coach Ian Palmer.
Varsity Football recently caught up with coach Alzavian, just to get an insight on his football memories, his take on the recent performances of the Educated Footballers and what SA football can learn from Kaizer Chiefs’ MultiChoice Diski Challenge team.
Varsity Football: How did you get involved with coaching at Wits?
Alzavian van Rheede: I had been coaching the Wits University juniors for four years while coaching Palmeros FC in the ABC Motsepe League as an assistant coach to Ian Palmer. I was then called up to the Wits Senior Varsity team as an assistant for three years before I eventually got the call up as a head coach. So, in total I’ve been coaching for seven years, starting at Wits U12 level.
Varsity Football: What is your favourite memory in football from your playing days?
AVR: Winning Senior Footballer of the Year at Wits.
Varsity Football: And as a coach?
AVR: Taking Wits University to their first Varsity Football final ever, against one of the best TUT teams in 2018.
Varsity Football: What are your thoughts on the Varsity Football tournament?
AVR: Currently I’m not enjoying it much, because we are finding it difficult to reward ourselves with a win, after all the hard work and sacrifices we have put in over the past 8 weeks. But overall, I think the tournament is wonderful with no one being able to predict who’s going to win the next fixture.
Varsity Football: What benefits come from coaching in the Varsity Football competition?
AVR: Coaching and developing players on a national stage and seeing their eyes light up and their bodies go through different emotions before, during and after games. It’s an important part of their development, that I love being a part of. Every coach would love to have the readymade product, like Peter Shalulile but even he had to go through the emotions of playing on TV, flying for the first time and being treated like a professional for the very first time and then included in all of this is, making sure you perform as well as possible for the team and your family, watching at home. So as a coach, it’s a big challenge but a challenge that takes time and patience and that’s something that society doesn’t allow. But if we can all take a page out of the Kaizer Chiefs’ Multichoice Diski Challenge team book and see what patience and hard work does, we would see that that MDC team is reaping the rewards of this and soon 80% of those players will win something for the first team one day. But people won’t see where it started. So, the benefit of coaching at the Varsity Football level is seeing players develop into well-educated footballers.
Varsity Football: What do you believe has gone wrong this season for Wits?
AVR: Well, we haven’t taken the chances that we have created for ourselves. When you look at the first game against NWU, we created six chances, that the keeper saved in the first half. It could have easily been 3-0 in the first 20min… And then against UKZN, we were 1-0 up and hit the post from the edge of the six-yard box, five minutes later we conceded from a rebound, where we were late to react. Against UJ, the first two chances were ours to take, and they got one and took theirs. Thereafter, the young boys’ lack of experience in the competition could be felt and seen. What we will continue doing is, developing the tactical, technical and mental side of our student footballers.
Varsity Football: What’s been your approach to turning things around for a team that’s struggled with getting positive results in the past?
AVR: We have to stick to our values which are working hard, preparing well, and believing in the process. I certainly believe that if we stick to these and believe in ourselves, everything will come right because this is a new group of players, and the majority of them are new to the tournament. We pride ourselves on bringing players through the Wits Juniors and our internal Res League structures. We have three players from the Internal Res League, that have never played at SAB or ABC Motsepe League nor any academy leagues and this is all part of our structures that we are trusting in and working hard towards improving.
Varsity Football: What are you looking to achieve with Varsity Football with the current set of results?
AVR: We want to win every game we play, which has been very difficult for us as a group, myself as a coach and our technical team, but because we have put in a lot of work into the squad, something has to give eventually.
Varsity Football: How are you guys going about improving your performances in the Varsity Football tournament?
AVR: We can only play with what we have in terms of players. As a coach, the players you have determines the football you can play and that goes for the tactical side of things as well. That’s just how football is. We will try our best to improve the players we have and try to get better results. We have been celebrated for the amazing football we have been playing throughout the years and just last season in the ABC Motsepe League as well. So our results so far, do not take away the big strides we have made as an institution.
Varsity Football: Any message to Wits supporters so far in the season?
AVR: Stand together with your fellow students and help them through this difficult phase. We need your genuine support through good and bad times. A special thank you to Men’s Res for always singing for us and pushing us all the time. We will continue pushing and working hard for every person that has an association with Wits University.
Varsity Football: Thank you coach and good luck.
Wits will try to collect their first three points of the 2022 Varsity Football tournament when they will host sixth-placed VUT, who sit two points above them on the log, on Thursday.
The match will be shown live on SuperSport 4. You can get information on how to get tickets here.
By S’fiso Nyawo.
