Mahangwahaya lives his dream

STRIKER SAYS THAT WHEN BIDVEST WITS CAME CALLING, HE COULD NOT REFUSE THE OFFER

For years, Ivan Mahangwahaya’s dream was to get an opportunity to play football outside his home province Limpopo, where he grew up playing for Black Leopards from when he was just a kid.

Born-and-bred in Venda, Mahangwahaya’s football journey wasn’t an easy one, having to make the cut for the Leopards development team along with 50o aspiring footballers.

And when he finally made the development team, he knew he had to work extra hard to make the first team, another difficult step because back in those days Leopards were the only big club in Venda. Having spent close to 10 years at Lidoda Duvha, Mahangwahaya thought his dream to play outside Limpopo would never materialise with age not on his side. But everything changed for the striker when Bidvest Wits came calling a few months ago.

“Things were tough back in the day, I mean we all wanted to play for Leopards as kids and they were the only team in Venda that time. We had to fight to get into the team and I think that I am one of the lucky guys who was selected,” he recalls.

“I am just happy I played for Leopards, and my dream of playing outside Limpopo came true when I joined Wits.”

“I never thought I would be playing for Wits one day. When they approached me I didn’t hesitate. I have always wanted to play for a club in Gauteng and another thing that made it simple for me to come here was because I know Wits challenge for trophies every season and I believe I will win trophies with the club.

“Another thing that made me join Wits is that Gavin Hunt is one of the best coaches in the country, he is very experienced and he will help me grow as a player.”

The striker says he will forever be thankful to Leopards for giving him the opportunity to become a professional footballer.

“It’s football, we work through contracts. If your contract is finished you have to move on, but again you have to check the kind of offers that come your way. I was at Leopards for a very long time, but again I wanted to explore and seek out new ventures.

“The club wanted to keep me but I received a great offer from Wits and I couldn’t say no. Another thing that made me decide to leave the team was because I wanted to learn new things.”

Mahangwahayo says he misses the support he got from the locals and playing at Thohoyandou Stadium. But he has now found a good home at Wits and everyone has been very good to him.

“Thohoyandou is one of the more difficult grounds to play at. First thing is that the heat is too much and it becomes hard for teams to adjust to the conditions. So we used that to our advantage and we had a lot of backing from the fans,” he added.