Ubuntu are not going to lie down and die...
THE NEDBANK CUP has thrust Ubuntu Cape Town slap bang into the limelight – and, as a result, finally, there is an opportunity for the public at large to understand the noble vision and laudable deeds at the heart of this new NFD club.
For Ubuntu is more than just a football team – it has, at its roots, a mission to transform, through football, the lives of kids in desperate need of guidance and direction. In a football landscape skewed towards always placing PSL clubs in the spotlight, what Ubuntu have done has gone largely unnoticed.
After eliminating PSL side Polokwane City in the previous round, Ubuntu now tackle AmaZulu, another top-flight club, in the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup in Durban tonight (8pm kickoff ).
While Ubuntu’s main focus is on their academy, they always knew that they needed a next step, something for their kids to aspire to. So they purchased the NFD franchise of FC Cape Town and started campaigning in the division this season. Coming in blind, it was a no-brainer that there would be an initial struggle. For a long time, they were anchored to the basement of the standings, until the last few weeks when, finally, the penny dropped and things started to turn for the better. One of the men behind the Ubuntu vision is American Casey Prince. Originally from Raleigh, in North Carolina, he now lives in Ocean View, where he is deeply involved in the community and the Ubuntu development programme. He also doubles as the coach of the NFD side.
“It takes time,” said Prince. “At the beginning of the campaign, we were doing pre-season training and having to play a match at the weekend. I think the team only started to get comfortable midway through the season. In addition, the signings we made and the loan players who came in were crucial, because they brought an extra layer of quality to the team. I mean we are playing three or four teenagers every week, and I don’t think any team in the country is doing that. It’s all about confidence – and, because the players are more confident, we have been quite strong (recently).”
Prince arrived in Cape Town in 2008 to work on an HIV programme in the community. It was supposed to be a three-month mission, but it was during this time that he met Michael Jenkins (Ubuntu chairman). Jenkins had always had the dream to establish a youth football academy, which could change the lives of children through education. Prince loved the idea and the following year he was back, for good this time, to build the Ubuntu academy.
Ubuntu have been mixing education and football for a while now, with little fanfare, and have their own school too. They draw on kids from Masiphumelele, Retreat, Fish Hoek and the surrounds – it’s a programme focusing not just on football but on education and mentorship, with the ultimate objective of changing the lives of children from such disadvantaged communities. They send some of the graduates from the programme to universities in the US and, now that they are in the NFD, they have a platform to further elevate footballers from their academy.
“We are obviously proud of what we have accomplished so far,” said the American coach, “and we are certainly not going to lie down and die. We are confident we can play at that level. AmaZulu are solid and don’t give up a lot of goals, and they are tactically sound. But we haven’t really focused on any of their individual players because they tend to change the starting team all the time.”