A home that raises beautiful players
It’s a Wednesday afternoon and the under-12s are dribbling balls across the field as a handful of spectators watch.
Caledonian Stadium is home to 17 former and current Bafana Bafana players, including its former captain Bongani Khumalo.
Tiyani Mabunda (28), the central midfielder for Mamelodi Sundowns, spent two years training with Arcadia Shepherds FC.
Despite his team having just won the Premier Soccer League, Mabunda still visits his former teammates at the stadium.
“This place is still my home. I’m a product of Arcadia Shepherds and if I have time, I still come and train with the guys. I don’t think building a park here is of any benefit to the country because there’s nothing that a park can do to change the way we live,” he says.
Players range from “12-year-olds to over-aged players. It’s a place where people can move away from other stuff and just play soccer,” says Mabunda.
Masego Moepi (22), a striker in the Arcs’ senior first team, has been with the club for eight years.
He trains with the seniors in the afternoon and helps train the younger players, whom he sees as his brothers.
“I prayed for the stadium when I heard it would be demolished. All those kids on the pitch, I’m attached to them. When I knock off from varsity I train with them and see that they’re happy,” Moepi says.
“This is the only stadium in central Arcadia, so if you take it away where are we going to train?
He adds: “It hurts when you don’t have a contract as a player but when you play here it doesn’t pain you because it’s a professional set-up.”
The battle for the stadium is about more than just a pitch for these players —it’s about a place they call home. —