SHOWVILLAGE United FC coach, Lukhanyo Wasa, now holds a Confederation of African Football (CAF) A-Licence after his hard work in grassroots soccer.
Wasa, who hails from King William’s Town, started getting involved in sport by watching rugby and cricket games in his village. He stated that football was not played in his village where he was brought up by his grandmother.
However, in 1980 he joined his parents who were living in Walmer Township and he attended John Masiza Primary School. According to Wasa, there were teams like Walmer Celtic, PE City, Telkom, Callies and St George’s that played football of a high standard.
He said that he did not join a team, but he was impressed by the way these teams played football.
Then his parents relocated to Showvillage, where the local team was Showvillage United FC, where he started his football career.
As the area’s best goalkeeper, Wasa was recruited by Swartkopsvalley United Brothers (SUBS) FC senior player, Zola Chacklass Zuzile, to play for them.
“I started to see how the club was run. The late chairperson of SUBS, Tall Ngalo, was an efficient leader who was so supportive to the entire club.
‘The players that I played with, who had a positive influence on me, were Zuzile, Siyabulela Isaac, Douglas Gqebe and others,” Wasa said.
“As time went on, I was recruited by Northern Areas Soccer Board First Division (now known as Northern Areas Football) side, Woolhope Rialto FC, where we won the league. We played against strong sides like Park United, Shamrocks, Fairview Rovers, Hotspurs, Blackpool, Glenville Celtic and Bloom Callies. I was selected to play for EPFU as an assistant goalkeeper to Donovan Felix of Park United.”
He said that Vincent Haynes and the Hutton family at Rialto rendered a huge support to him in his football career. Then he played for the local semi-professional side, Rainbow Stars, along with stars like Mthetheleli Mayo, the late Brian Msebe, Mzamo Mantile, Monki Jafta, Scara Maguga and Bruno Mkonto. Wasa revealed that he sustained a career-ending injury that ruled him out of the game.
“I went back to Showvillage United where I coached the u/14 team. Coaching is my God-given talent. Our u/14 side won the Nike Tournament U/14 Cup and Transnet Tournament U/14 Cup and it represented the province in Durban.
“I coached the senior team that won many trophies with Motherwell Football Association (MOFA). We also won promotional play-offs to campaign in SAFA NMB SAB Regional League,” said Wasa.
Wasa achieved the following trophies: Engen U/17, Engen Coach of the Tournament, SAFA Metropolitan U/19 and SAFA Metropolitan U/19 Coach of the Tournament in 2008.
Wasa was an assistant coach to Luyanda Ncwadi for NMU Football, which won the Varsity Cup in 2011 in Limpopo and he guided the NMU Ladies’ team to win the PEFA League without any loss. He also coached NMU Football during the Varsity Cup in 2012.
“Coaches must be dedicated, disciplined, determined and be willing to learn from other coaches. They must look for new challenges and stay humbled and accept criticism,” concluded Wasa.
