u wc s o cc er g r eats a i m to plo u g h bac k

UWC SOCCER GREATS AIM TO PLOUGH BACK 2020 will see a reunion of empowerment and football brilliance grace the campus

By Myolisi Gophe Images UWC Media

As UWC celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, footballers of the past years are set to converge on campus in March – but not just to reminisce and party, though. While alumni will reconnect and socialise at the UWC Soccer Legends Reunion on 27 and 28 March, they will also host football matches for clubs from various disadvantaged communities and discuss ways to give back to these communities.

“The Rector (Professor Tyrone Pretorius) has challenged us not to just come here to reminisce, socialise, connect and go back but to also leave a mark that can have an ongoing effect,” explains Malcolm Nasson, a member of the Soccer Legends Reunion’s organising committee.

Clockwise from right: Prof Tyrone Pretorius during his days as a UWC footballer; A pre-match picture of the 1983/4 team; The UWC first team of 1980/1.

Clockwise from top left: The combined UWC and Rhodes University team of 1983; UWC Director of Sport, Mandla Gagayi, walks alongside Dr Danny Jordaan, the president of the South African Football Association (SAFA); Prof Tyrone Pretorius and Dr Danny Jordaan; Prof Pretorius alongside his first-team teammates in 1983.

Nasson, who initially registered for a law degree in 1986 before switching to education, says one of the ideas put forward includes ex-Udubs footballers raising funds for the much-needed equipment and playing kits that grassroots clubs in the disadvantaged surrounding communities require.

Additionally, they must aim to empower these clubs on an ongoing basis and assist the communities’ children to access the University and its facilities. “We would like to make a positive difference to our country, to our alma mater and to the surrounding communities,” Nasson adds. A final decision will be made during

the discussion session at the reunion, in which the alumni will be given a platform to air their views on the best ways to give back. Among other activities scheduled for the reunion is a campus tour to keep the alumni up to speed on the developments that have taken place over the years as well as a tournament for clubs from the communities surrounding the campus precinct. Nasson, a well-known Capetonian businessman who hails from Emalahleni in Mpumalanga, says the University has produced many prominent footballers who are playing key roles in the country. Among them is the current coach of the under23 men’s national team, David Notoane,

as well as the current president of the SA Football Association, Dr Danny Jordaan. Stanley Mathabatha, the current Premier of Limpopo, and his predecessor, Cassel Mathale, also played football during their time at UWC.

According to Nasson, many UWC legends were career-driven, academically inclined people who opted to pursue professional careers instead of sports. “I have no doubt that players like Sherrington Adonis, whom Orlando Pirates tried to recruit, could’ve had very successful careers as pro footballers.” The Legends Reunion event is open to any former footballer who attended UWC from the 1960s to the 2010s.