KNYSNA NEWS - For only the second time ever, a SuperSport United talent identification programme made a stop in Knysna last Saturday, 11 June, to identify talented young footballers from within the Safa Eden region.
The programme, which has been coined the Matsatsantsa Talent Search, is aimed at promising footballers aged 17 or younger.
The plan is to visit five South African Football Association (Safa) regions around the country in the current winter break, ahead of the 2022/23 Premier Soccer League (PSL) DStv Premiership season to pinpoint talented youngsters who can join the club's rank as part of their academy.
The first of the five Safa regions they planned to visit was Eden, which incorporates seven local football associations (LFAs) - Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, George, Mossel Bay, Hessequa, Kannaland and Oudtshoorn. Part of the reason why Matsatsantsa visited Eden first was due to two individuals within the club - former club captain Thabo September, who grew up in Knysna, and current striker Sibusiso Maziko. Having retired in 2016, September is now the second assistant coach of their first team and head coach of their club's Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) team.
SuperSport United's head of recruitment, welfare and high performance manager Godfrey Mosoetsa.
He was also part of the SuperSport United team that visited Knysna for the talent identification programme at the Knysna High School sport fields last week. "It's great to see how much talent is on display here from the region," September said. "There have been some very special footballers we have seen and pointed out, and having grown up here it is very encouraging to see this in the youth."
Every LFA from the region had to select a representative squad of U17 players. The teams played against one another on the day, with scouts and talent identifiers looking on with a watchful eye.
SuperSport United's head of recruitment, welfare and high performance manager Godfrey Mosoetsa said there are certain factors they are looking for in the young footballers. "The focal point is the technique, physique, understanding (tactics) and the mental part of the player," he said.
Mosoetsa also emphasised the importance of talent identification, saying it is a much-underrated expertise which plays an important role in football. A scout needs to have certain special attributes, one of which is the ability to identify the type of players your club is looking for, and not what other people think about the player you are watching.
The day in Knysna proved to be a great success as three young footballers from the Garden Route were cherry-picked to join the club's academy ranks.
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
