Transforming a rugby town into a football mecca
LEE Langeveldt grew up in the shadows of the Drakenstein Mountains, and in the even bigger shadow of his cousin, former Proteas seam bowler Charl.
“Chicco (Charl) was my hero. I wanted to be like him. I bowled out-swingers just like him. I wasn’t too bad either. I made the Boland Under-15 team that played in the PG Bison week with guys like Stiaan van Zyl, who went on to become a Proteas batsman,” Lee said.
A different path awaited Lee, though. A very winding one for someone who was equally talented as a goalkeeper, but hailed from Idas Valley, where traditionally cricket, and particularly rugby, are the primary sports.
The oval ball very much dominates conversations in this majestic part of South Africa where vineyards line the streets and everyone is an expert on wine and, of course, rugby.
That is even more so at Stellenbosch University, better known as Maties, the stronghold of Western Province rugby and the Springboks.
Due to these circumstances back in the mid-2000s, Lee was forced to leave his home town and parents behind while still a teenager to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer, because it was simply not possible in Stellenbosch.
The only professional football clubs in the Western Cape at that time were Santos and Ajax Cape Town, but they might have been in Port Elizabeth anyway, where Langeveldt moved to initially.
“Growing up in Stellenbosch and being a professional footballer was never easy. We always looked at Santos, Ajax and even Hellenic back in the day in Cape Town, and we dreamed of playing for them, but getting there was difficult,” Lee said.
“Growing up, I played for the local club, Idas Valley. You could see your dreams, but getting there was a problem. I was one of the fortunate ones who were lucky enough to get picked up by the School of Excellence in Port Elizabeth at a young age.
“I was only 15-years-old. I could say there were many others who didn’t have the opportunity, who were even more talented than I was.”
Fortunately for the current youth of the Boland town, times have changed. They now have their own professional club, Stellenbosch FC, to which Lee has returned home to captain in the Premiership after spells at Santos and Golden Arrows, and also a period in Denmark.
Furthermore, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed this week between the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS) – owners of Stellenbosch FC – and Stellenbosch University that will see the two entities collaborate until 2029.
The memorandum endeavours to foster a better relationship between the university and the academy to develop quality footballers for Stellenbosch and the greater Winelands community.
Prior to the official announcement, the partnership had been in effect, with positive results already being yielded on both fronts.
Stellenbosch FC, who utilise the university’s Lentelus Football Complex for training and the Danie Craven Stadium for their home matches, have enjoyed an excellent start to the PSL season. They are just four points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
Equally, Maties FC have benefited from the technical expertise that Stellenbosch FC provide through their coaches, such as technical director Boebie Solomons amongst others, by advancing to the ABC Motsepe League – which is two divisions away from the PSL.
Partnerships between universities and PSL teams have a long history in SAfootball, with prime examples being Wits University and the University of Pretoria.
Wits, in particular, reached the summit when they ultimately won the PSL title as Bidvest Wits after significant corporate investment from outside the university structures were acquired.
Unfortunately, the 15-year partnership between Wits University and the Bidvest Group was terminated recently, and the club’s PSL status was sold.
With Maties FC just two divisions shy of attaining PSL status, could the university ultimately follow a similar route, where they either supersede Stellenbosch FC or play alongside them in the elite league of SA football?
“We had discussions around the fact that we could be victims of our own success. But I am very clear that the duty of university sport operates in an amateur space, and not to play professional sport. But that doesn’t mean we can’t contribute to that. For us, university sport is amateur sport,” said chief director of Maties Sport, Ilhaam Groenewald.
“For us, it is more about finding the right partner to invest with in order to grow football in the town of Stellenbosch. That’s why we reached out to Rob Benade (chief executive of SAS and Stellenbosch FC). In terms of my counterparts, therein lies the difference. They did not share the same pathway and the same vision, in particularly for the town.
“This is a culmination of two years of discussions. As a university, it is not our business to buy into professional sport. Our business is student sport. It is about changing the narrative of the history of football in this country.”
Furthermore, it is not only the young men of Stellenbosch who are closer to fulfilling their dreams of becoming professional footballers through this partnership, but women too, with Maties FC having just completed a coup with the signing of SA Under-20 women’s team and former University of Johannesburg coach Jabulile Baloyi as their women’s team’s first female head coach.
“Women’s football has taken flight internationally, and we have to catch up. The successes of Banyana Banyana has inspired so many. Desiree (Ellis, Banyana coach) is a very good friend, sister, of mine. And it is important that we support her vision, so the development of football has to be stable and similar,” said Groenewald.
“So, the appointment of a full-time coach is important, as Jabu (Baloyi) will work with Stellenbosch FC and the clubs in the area. I was very clear that we have to have girls teams at all of these levels. It’s a gradual process.”
Upon entering Stellenbosch University’s beautifully manicured sports fields, a statue of the late Dr Danie Craven – the doyen of Bok rugby – and his dog Bliksem greets the patrons.
Well, maybe, just maybe, in the future, the way the landscape is transforming at Stellenbosch, there could be another statue alongside Craven, of either Lee kicking a football, or Groenewald walking her beloved cats Ebony and Ivory.