Gum’s skills on display for AmaTuks
Lessyton-born football star Sihle Gum’s future looks ever brighter, after his side, AmaTuks progressed to the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals, where his skills will be expected to be at their best when they take on Mamelodi Sundowns.
Gum was poached by his manager-agent, Brian Funda, while he was playing for Amavarara FC at the age of 17 and signed to Free State Stars, where he played for their development team. After playing one season, he signed a first-team contract but ended up on loan to Witbank Spurs, where he showcased his talent for one season as well.
“My plan with Free State Stars was to give him more play time and get more experience before commencing with his top league debut at Free State Stars.
“Unfortunately he came back when Free State Stars got relegated but continued to play for them for two seasons in the National First Division (NFD),” Funda said.
Gum’s defensive skills saw him getting a call from TS Sporting, and he played there for a single season.
His excellent quick-defence offensiveness resulted in him receiving another call from Casric Stars to help them as they needed experienced players, as they had just arrived in the league.
Funda said: “Casric Stars’ coach approached me and I did not have any problems giving them Gum because they were aiming for the promotion to the PSL. Casric Stars reached the PSL play-off in their season and Gum was one of the key players for them. He worked hard for Casric Stars in obtaining the promotion to assistant captain.”
Prior to the play-offs, AmaTuks had their eyes on the young Gum and were ready to have him join them should his team fail to get the promotion. Funda said AmaTuks also signed Gum to assist with their vision of attaining PSL status after this season.
AmaTuks are second on the log which puts them in with a chance of playing in the PSL play-off should they finish the league in the same place.
Gum, who is loving the experience of playing in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, said: “It’s good to be part of the team (AmaTuks) and I didn’t find myself struggling to play here, and also I’ve joined the team in the preseason, so we prepared well for the season and we did everything together.
“It was easy for me to gel with other players of the team. We take one game at a time because both the league and Nedbank Cup are important to us.”
He added that they did not choose any specific game to focus on, as all their games were important and they treated every game as their final game.
When he was asked about what motivates him before each game, Gum explained that: “If you’re not happy you can’t play your best game. You must be happy before entering the field so you can give your A game.
“As players, we know what is expected from us and we have one mentality of winning. We give our all and we leave everything on the field of play,” he said.