NEW Brighton-based City Lads Women’s Football Club head coach, Terry Mrwerwe, has been involved in football since childhood.
Mrwerwe revealed that he started playing football in the New Brighton street circles, called “erhangeni” with the word, derived from Afrikaans word “gang”.
He said when he was about nine or 10 years old when he joined Rangers FC while he was living in Gqamlana Street, which is near Ferguson Road. He was a top striker and was promoted to u/12 side of Rangers.
He revealed that one of his friends who attended Stephen Mazungula Higher Primary School with him, recruited him to play for Boast Pirates FC.
He said, “It was at Boast Pirates FC u/14 that I started to take football seriously and I developed a passion of the game. Our side was affiliated to the Northern Areas Soccer Board, which is now Northern Areas Football Association, which was the sub-union of Eastern Province Soccer Board under the leadership of Danny Jordaan, who is the current SAFA President.
“All the games took place at Gelvan Fields, Dyke Fields and Malabar Fields. The games drew large crowds every weekend.
“We as juniors, played on early Saturdays and we walked on foot to the games while we were very young. There was no transport so we had to walk all the way from New Brighton to the fields in Northern Areas.
“I was promoted to senior team with some of the players that I played with in the juniors’ team.”
Mrwerwe left Boast Pirates in the early 1990s to play for neighbourhood side, Roaring Tigers FC, of Elundini, for two seasons.
He further stated that just after sports unification, he played non-racial sport, under the South African Congress of Sport banner, for City Lads FC, under coach Ringo Mshoti.
Mrwerwe decided to stop playing after he sustained a serious knee injury.
Mrwerwe said, “I then started my coaching career in 1994. I was inspired to pursue football coaching after I received the football coaching manual book that was written by the late father of Gary Bailey – Roy Bailey and the late Sindile Matthew Kawe.
“I started my coaching career with Roaring Tigers u/12, with Nkosomzi Peter being the manager. I inherited this u/12 team from Xolani Mbambise.
“During that time, our team lost in the Chappies Little League championships in Cape Town. During that tournament, I gained a lot of experience and football coaching skills. My willingness to learn helps a lot in my coaching career. Scandinavian coaches who offered coaching courses in Nelson Mandela Bay also motivated me.
“I also coached Black Brothers, who won the SAFA NMB Regional League and they played well in the Vodacom League play-offs. I met City Lads Women’s Football Club chairperson, Nomalungelo Mooi, who recruited me to coach her team,” he said.
“I have taken the team to the championships finals many times, but they have yet to take the top honours although they play good football. My aim is to see Lads the Sasol Ladies League champions one day.”
