NB LA MASIA’S RYAN BAATJIES
Ryan, we’re grateful to have you on ‘In Touch’ this week and hope you will live up to what this page is all about – making us laugh. You have been with NB La Masia for some time now, and are currently the captain, so we bet you have some memorable moments that will leave our readers in stitches. In the early days of my time at La Masia, there was a time when we were celebrating after winning the 2017 (Walter Sisulu) Discovery Games in Soweto. I remember, as we were celebrating, I got out of the car, but just as I got out, I slipped and fell. I was just too happy and then I saw myself falling to the ground. It was such a funny moment, but we were all just having fun because it was such a special moment for the team, ha, ha, ha.
It may not compare to Steve Gerrard’s infamous slip, but at least this must have been quite hilarious for your teammates to witness. Well, hopefully the car was not moving at the time you fell.
No, luckily the car was not moving, ha, ha, ha. I was too excited! The car was about to move, so I was quite fortunate in that regard. I injured my leg a little bit, but it was not too serious. A few of my teammates laughed at me, but not everyone saw what happened, ha, ha, ha. I didn’t even worry if the guys saw me in that moment.
What a moment that must have been, but you are fortunate that you did not get a serious injury while celebrating because it could have ended badly. Tell us more about what happens there at La Masia. One of the funny guys that we have in the team is Virgil Vries. That guy loves dancing when we are in camp, before matchdays. And the thing about him is that his dance moves are funny. You will see him dancing for the guys and we will just be laughing.
Can he dance?
You know what? He can dance, but sometimes he has these funny dances. We call it a ‘Gorilla dance’. He shows us how to do it and then he calls it a Gorilla dance, ha, ha, ha.
Do you guys not join him?
No, we don’t join him. We just stand there and laugh because it’s funny. That’s how it is in the team. He is a good entertainer, and we love having him around because of the things that he does. But that Gorilla dance is really a funny one because of the way that he does it. I wish you could see it, ha, ha, ha. There was a time when Virgil was making fun of the shoes of a guy named Themba (John). It looked like a Sunday shoe, but it was different.
How we would love to see the dance. Maybe send us a video and we’ll see if we can’t post it on our social media pages, ha, ha, ha. And maybe one day he will do it while one of La Masia’s matches are on television
so everyone can see the dance. Talk to us about some of the other characters in the team.
Gregory Roelf is one of the funniest guys in the team. He likes making jokes. He is the type of guy who will make jokes, but it’s never personal. It’s good to have him around in the team because it’s fun and everyone can have that laughing spirit and be happy in the camp. There is hardly ever unhappiness in the camp because he is there to make a joke for everyone to laugh.
Roelf has been in the game for a long time, and was even at Santos during their time in the topflight, so he probably has loads of stories to share with you guys in the team.
Yes, he is quite the character. There is a crazy story from the time when I was playing at the Bidvest Wits Academy. There was a fight, but I was not part of it. A friend of mine was fighting with the Indian guys from the other team, and I was just sitting and watching, ha, ha, ha. This was after a game we played, but I was not involved. My friend is the one who was involved, and he ended up calling his parents and they somehow managed to stop those people. It was a big fight! It started on the field because they were swearing at us. They had to stop the game.
Mommy’s boy, he had to call the parents to save the day… ha, ha, ha!
Luckily, they stopped it because you could get banned for such moments. I did not want to do anything stupid. But I remember there was a time when I was at Wits and we were playing in the Engen Cup. One day, I just woke up with a headache and I remember just lying on the grass with ice on my head. Can you imagine having a headache on the day of playing a game? It was just one of those funny moments that I remember, ha, ha, ha.
Eish! Are you sure it was not a babalaas? Ha, ha, ha, definitely not a babalaas!
It’s always advisable to ensure you have painkillers with you at all times as a footballer so that you do not have headaches while on the pitch, ha, ha, ha. Thank you so much for your time, Ryan. Good luck for the rest of the season with La Masia… although the Siya crew reports in this week’s edition that you could be leaving soon! Ha, ha, ha. Thank you for the opportunity, my brother. It was great sharing the stories with the Soccer Laduma readers. As for leaving, no comment, ha, ha, ha.