UP-Tuks have proved beyond doubt that they are the deserved inaugural champions of Varsity Football. I would be failing in my duties as a sports reporter if I did not congratulate Tuks for a job well done.
It’s an open secret that I doubted that this great side would be the last team standing after the gruelling nine weeks of football. I take my hat off to Tuks, well done boys you are the real champions.
Well done to the University’s senior management for backing young coach Evangelos Vellios and his team.
Tuks have not only proved me wrong but also the critics, who doubted their ability to go all the way after their embarrassing 4-1 defeat to TUT in the Tshwane derby on the opening day.
It has been a bumpy road but it ended with a big success and Tuks couldn’t put a foot wrong in the final.
But it’s not about how you get beat or how you start, it’s about how you end.
He who laughs last laughs the loudest. Tuks have been a testament of what hard work does and they indeed put in the hard work and they deserved to win the title.
But I want to single out the influential skipper Kabelo Ramongane for his leadership skills. He led by example on and off the pitch and carried his team to the history books of the competition.
Yes, I said Tuks were huffing and puffing, but they tore the Madibaz into shreds in the final.
And I am finally convinced they are worthy winners of the competition. I have to admit that I was left to eat humble pie. At the final whistle was I mobbed by players, technical staff and captain, who said they told me so, and I am glad my criticism spurred them on to the title.
The stage was just too big for the Madibaz, they just couldn’t handle it and they froze on the night when they needed to rise to the occasion.
Congratulations to them for getting that far. They are champions in their own right they defined the odds by getting to the final. On another day they could have won but Tuks were in fine form.
But now that the strawberries and cream are gone, we hope that the talent that was displayed at the Varsity Football competition will not go to waste.
It has been an incredible nine weeks as football fever hit Mzansi on explosive Mondays.
The who’s who of football in Mzansi attended matches and they were all preaching football development.
Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund, national under-23 coach Shakes Mashaba, University of Pretoria coach Steve Barker, SuperSport United assistant coach Kwanele Kopo, Mamelodi Sundowns development coach Themba Mnguni, Orlando Pirates star Tlou Segolela and former Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru and SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani, are some of the faces that were seen watching from the stands.
The footballers were entertained throughout the year by being televised on TV and this initiative boosted their confidence and showedcased their talent. And the stadiums were packed to the rafters on match days.
The competition played its role by exposing talent, but where to from here for these players? There have been many tournaments that have come and gone and produced talented players. But the talent was neglected and not taken care of properly.
Now that the competition is over, where to for these players as some of them will not even be studying at University next year? And for those who will be in Universities? There will be an age limit of Under-25 in 2014.
Will these players become another statistic of failed football development? Will their football dream vanish into thin air just like that?
The Premier Soccer League and the National First Division teams stand to benefit from all this. They should all learn from University of Pretoria, who signed 20-year-old North West University striker Thabo Mnyamane.
The South African national junior coaches and scouts that attended the matches should take a stand by encouraging the clubs to sign the players that did well and give them the platform to develop further.
These players should be given a programme to follow in order to succeed in the sport.
There is a rule in the National First Division League that binds all the clubs to field five under-23 players in their starting line-ups. The Varsity Football tournament is the perfect place to look for players that can fill that role for the NFD teams.
The tournament was well marketed and fans were always looking forward to going to the stadiums as they were entertained by the quality of football, given T-shirts, Pizzas and cellphones.
The so-called football experts in the country often say that the South African football development does not produce players that are good enough for the national team Bafana Bafana.
But I believe that South African Football Association have been given something that they can work with from this competition.
Good luck to the players who will be moving on to the corporate world and into the football world. I want to end my blog by declaring the inaugural year of Varsity Football a success. I look forward to a great tournament in 2014.
By Charles Baloyi – Daily Sun and Sunday Sun Sports writer
