This year marks a new era for the All Star Foundation, a football NGO that has produced winning teams, as they turn their sights on participating in the Helderberg Local Football Association (LFA) leagues.
Since its inception in 2019, the foundation has only participated in social leagues and a Sunday church league, thus the progression is regarded as a milestone for its founder, Selwyn Manuel.
“I never had the capacity or the courage to tackle this task of managing and coaching young teams in an organised, professional league,” Manuel explained. “But with our success in the last number of years, the opportunity to play in the Helderberg LFA has come at the right time.”
He met with the executive committee of the Helderberg LFA last month and everyone agreed to have the All Star Foundation as part of the leagues. The teams will play under the name Helderberg All Stars.
Manuel is passionate about football development and has consistently striven to produce teams across all divisions (“Young players developed”, DistrictMail, 5 April 2022).
He also admits that the task ahead could be daunting, particularly with the costs involved to run the club in an LFA.
“We have an under-14 team, an under–16 team and a senior team all set to participate in the leagues, and we have to make sure we have the necessary resources, equipment and technical team to ensure their success. It won’t be easy but I’m very optimistic and I trust our community will support us.”
The teams are made up of players from across the Helderberg who, since the end of January, have been training at the Gustrouw Sports Ground, where the soccer fields are uneven and not considered appropriate for league fixtures. For this reason, most of their games will be played at Lwandle Stadium when the leagues start in March.
“We also still have room for more players and anyone is welcome to join,” Manuel said. “We call on sponsors to get in touch and help this foundation turn the lives of our youth around, and possibly create future football stars.”
Manuel can be contacted on 083 735 6601 or safaballstars@gmail.com for details.
