Coaches I’ve worked with: Boebie deserves more credit

I know my colleagues interviewed instructor Boebie Solomons in last week’s edition of the paper and I’d like to give that man his flowers while he can still smell them in this week’s edition. This is one of our unsung heroes and people don’t acknowledge the man’s input in South African football… in fact, even in the continent. Some of us have had an opportunity to rub shoulders and interact with this man, especially when it comes to football matters. We are so united and privileged to have this man grace us with his presence from time to time. To top it off, I’m not just talking about personal interaction but even conversations that have everything to do with our football. This is a coach who has done tremendously well for our football at club level, but his input was beyond that as he shaped the coaching industry in a significant waw. Some will remember him coaching Santos, Bidvest Wits and junior national teams, among others, and think that was all he’s done, but I would like to believe one of his best contributions has been with the coaching education. When you look at his career and some of the players he produced and guided, you will be surprised because he developed and enhanced a lot of careers. He’s never been a loud person but a rather humble and honest figure. Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking he doesn’t know how to stand his ground or drive a point across. When the need arises, coach Boebie will stand his ground and deal with whatever situation needs his attention. This is a very knowledgeable coach and I would like to believe that, given a chance, he can make a difference everywhere he was to be involved. This is one of the people I strongly believe needs to be utilised to get us back to where we belong as a country. Boebie is one of the best, in the same class as your late Clive Barker, Screamer Tshabalala, the late Styles Phumo, Shakes Mashaba and other former coaches. We tend to isolate, especially if people are not coming from the Gauteng province and think they don’t deserve credit for their hard work and achievements. We need to acknowledge and celebrate people from other provinces as well because they are part of South Africa. I’d like to believe Boebie deserves more credit for the work he has done in the Western Cape and South African football at large. There are a lot of quality players that have come from the Western Cape and some of those players left the country without touching the ball at professional level in our country. That speaks volumes about the quality of talent that people like coach Boebie have led and recruited. If we had proper structures in our football, people like Boebie would form an important part of those structures. These are people with a wealth of knowledge and experience that needs to be utilised. While he was still coaching, he gave a lot of youngsters a chance to make a name for themselves and he did the same in the junior national ranks. Like I said, I had the privilege of getting to know this gentleman on a personal level and it was an honour for me to learn from him. From my days as a footballer up to doing my coaching courses, he has always been one of the important people in my career and played an important role in enhancing my coaching talent. This is one of the coaches that, I feel, need to be acknowledged and celebrated in this country while they are still alive. I just want to thank him for being part of taking South African football development to the next level. He’s done so with both the players and coaches. We are richer because we have him in our football. This man has coached and produced some of the top talents in the country and most of those players continue to make him proud, long after their retirement because they didn’t just learn about football but life in general from this man. He was not just coaching minnows and anyone who remembers Boebie’s Santos team will tell you what a difficult side they were to play against, especially at Athlone Stadium. There was never an easy game against them. I just hope that he will continue being involved in football because he still has a massive role to play.