Award Ceremony - Done But not Dusted
PLFA's 2017 Award Ceremony was held on the 20th of January 2018. This event was successful and continued the improvement trend that started with the 2016 Award Ceremony event. The association is truly committed to ensuring that that all the milestones that are critical in running football are achieved seamlessly, without contentions, with class and in alignment with the association's vision.
Honoured on the day were the Winners and the best performers of the 2017 Footballing Season. It is also important to mention that we recognise not only those who won, but also those who were runners up, and those who were nominated for the awards.
The following are the recognized achievers for Season 2017:
Referees
This category was really difficult to adjudicate in terms of best performances. The overall performance of the Referees as a collective throughout the year was less than desirable. Some of the Pitfalls experienced were that most match reports were not submitted on time, and some were not submitted at all. There would also be occasions where referees were appointed at the ground because the officially appointed referees not pitching up.
The bigger problem was also that referees did not attend Referees meetings. This frustrated the Head of Referees, Md Lebo Lefhiedi, who at the ceremony made a passionate plea to all those who are interested in refereeing to join the Referees Forum, come to meeting and she will personally ensure that they are properly developed.
Ms Lefhiedi is a renowned Referee in her own right. Her track record in officiating matches at the higher leagues for years precedes her. She has been co-opted as an Additional Executive Committee member, in the Head of Referees portfolio. She replaces Mr. Zakhele Ntuli, who has been moved to the Head of Football portfolio to stabilise the operations of Leagues and Competitions.
The association acknowledged that the level of Referee Operations is not at all what the association and all its stakeholders desire. We note that there is a deep impact in the overall administration of football as a result of lapses in the Referees' department. Once such impact is is the lack of consistent match statistics due to lack of consistent submission of match report. This led to the Top Goal Scorer award being scrapped as the goal records are not accurate.
However, the Executive Committee decided to, whilst scrapping the Top Goal Scorer of the Year award for 2017, to still continue to award Referees based on who performs the best under the circumstances. The criterion for this would focus more on the dedication of the practice by attending the Referees Forum meetings, consistently honouring the appointments, submitting the match results to the association and doing so in time, reporting anomalies in time, and conducting oneself in accordance with the professional code of the practice.
The association acknowledges that there were individuals who, under the circumstances tried their very best. These needed to be acknowledged whilst driving the message of compliance home.
Nominated for Referee of the Year Awards were:
- Simphiwe Mthalane
- Terrence Mashishi
- Mohale Maeko
And the Winner is Terrence Mashishi.
The association therefore repeats the call made by Ms Lefhiedi in calling all affiliates of the association to allocate people to form part of the Referees Forum, as is also required by the Rules.
Coaches
On his address, Vice Chairperson Mr. Sizwe Nkosi noted that there are three clubs that have been dominating in the last couple of years, these being Jakaranda Callies FC, Mountain Movers FC and Young Tigers FC. He also mentioned that their dominance is not a fluke. It is a result of focus, hard work and smart application of the tactics of the game. He challenged all other clubs, including those that also used to dominate like Atteridgeville Juventus FC, Highlanders FC and Atteridgeville Young Zebras FC to pick up their socks and compete.
It is a well-known fact that clubs perform in accordance with how good their coaches are. Yes administrative support is absolutely critical for attain success, but it is well established that great administrative support by itself cannot make the team excel, but it is necessary.
PLFAs vibrancy during this and the past seasons lies too much on its coaches. In football, coaches make football round. They make societal mix tick. They fill the soccer pitches during weekends, and they command young footballing troops.
In recognising the Coach of the Year, the panel had to look among these dominant clubs. Nominated for the award were:
- Pule Tayitayi from Jakaranda Callies FC
- Steven Mathebula from Mountain Movers FC
- Bushy Makgopa from Young Tigers FC
Pule Tayitayi scooped the Coach of the Year award. He led his team to be in the top 4 in 5 leagues. In them he won the Under 11 and Under 13 Leagues with the club. He was runners for the Under 15 league, and he was number 3 with Under 17 and Under 19 leagues. He has proven that he is the best coach there is for Junior Football, and yet he has shown that he is among the best coaches in the Intermediary Football strata, making him the best achiever by far.
UNDER 11 LEAGUE
Under 11 in 2017 saw the continuation of dominance by Jakaranda Callies FC. However, it saw the emergence of Young Deers FC to take the runners up spot. This emergency is a welcomed development, and we trust that there will be a much more competitive environment created for all other clubs in 2018, and that clubs will rise to the occasion.
Nominated for the Player of the Season for the Under 11 League were:
- Lesego Molaudzi from Young Deers FC
- Thabang Madisha from Jakaranda Callies FC
Thabang Madisha scooped the award.
UNDER 13 LEAGUE
Again, Jakaranda Callies FC dominated the Under 13 league in 2017. Predictably, Mountain Movers were the runners up. Mountain Movers has in the previous years numerously won this title as well, including winning the Regional Club Championships.
Nominated for the Player of the Season for the Under 13 League were:
- Kagiso Mogokolo from Jakaranda Callies FC
- Thabang Malete from Mountain Movers
Kagiso Mogokolo scooped the award.
UNDER 15 LEAGUE
In 2016 Young Tigers FC won the league and went on to win the Regional Club Championships. In 2017, they won the league again. Their dominance continues. Predictably, Jakaranda Callies FC are the runners up.
Nominated for the Players of the Season for the Under 15 League were:
- Keamogetswe Malete from Jakaranda Callies FC
- Thabang Mangalo from Young Tigers FC
Keamogetswe Malete scooped the award.
UNDER 17 LEAGUE
Mountain Movers won the Under 17 league. There is a clear indication that the Mountain Movers is the best Intermediary Football Coach. In this area the dominance is mainly between Mountain Movers and Young Tigers, who were the runners up.
Nominated for the Players of the Season for the Under 17 League were:
- Mbekezela Buthelezi from Mountain Movers FC
- Milford Mangalo from young Tigers FC
Mbekezela Buthelezi scooped the award.
UNDER 19 LEAGUE
Again, Mountain Movers won the Under 19 league and Young Tigers are the runners up.
Nominated for the Players of the Season for the Under 19 League were:
- Khutso Mamogale from Young Tigers
- Katlego Mampa from Mountain Movers
Katlego Mampa scooped the award.
SUPER LEAGUE
Young Tigers FC won the Super League. They went on to the regional Play Offs where they lost at the finals by a small margin. However they went on to procure the SAB League status and are playing at the SAFA Tshwane SAB League level now. Together with EC Manchester FC, these are the newest entries from Phelindaba to the SAB League. They join Pretoria Callies, PUBS, and Future Masters.
Atteridgeville Young Zebras are the Super League runners up.
Nominated for the Players of the Season for the Super League were:
- Netshivha Shandukane from Young Tigers FC
- Steve Malebe from Young Zebras FC
Netshiavha Shandukane scooped the award.
PRIZES
Monitory Prizes for the leagues will be paid through the SAFA Tshwane Region by Mamelodi Sundowns Foundation. For the Super League, these have been paid as they do not form scope of what SAFA Tshwane Region covers.
The trophies and medals have been issued at the Award Ceremony. The winners also received the soccer jerseys. Traditionally, the association provides jerseys to winners up to 4th position. This happens through the assistance of Supersport United FC, who were not involved this time around. So the association bought these from its coffers.
The association will none-the-less have a meeting with Supersport United on the 31st of January 2018 to see if they can cover these.
CONCLUSION
The association improves its operations and delivery of its milestones every year. We are pleased to say that were done with the Award Ceremony, but we still need to see if we can get more for the achievers through Supersport United FC.
