The story behind the scenes
Investing in resources
What distinguishes Chiefs from their closest competitors is that Chiefs have gone into youth tournaments and leagues with fully functional teams, and they invest as many resources in the junior ranks as they do in the first team.
A Chiefs tournament traveling party would typically include a doctor, a physiotherapist, a professional photographer.
According to a renowned football coach, these elements are often excluded with other clubs, where certain members of staff often have to double up in other roles, whereas at the Naturenabased side, each person is assigned a specific role.
On the field, teams have often filtered through the same youth levels before getting to the reserves and eventually the first team, resulting in a better camaraderie amongst players. This is in stark comparison to many of their competitors, who simply ‘put together’ players from different teams – and sometimes even those from other teams – to strengthen their teams.
This results in Chiefs being a more balanced and complete team, compared to many of the strong individual outfits they come up against.
Equipping the coaches
Another important aspect Amakhosi have done particularly well is develop their own coaches.
In 2019, while still the reserve team coach, Arthur Zwane jetted out to Ireland for close to two weeks to complete a coaching course to earn a world-recognized UEFA B coaching license.
Similarly, 30-year-old Tshidiso Letsholonyane recently jetted out to complete a similar course.
In coach Vela Khumalo, they have a mentor who has coached in the junior national teams.
A bonus for Chiefs is the addition of Molefi Ntseki as the club’s Head of Technical and Youth Development, who has a rich history of developing players.
By Chiefs developing their coaches, they are ensuring a conveyor belt of talent is not only filtering through in terms of playing staff, but that their coaching staff is equally equipped to make their way through to the first team in years to come.
How do their competitors fare?
A look at both the current Mamelodi Sundowns’ and Orlando Pirates’ first teams shows that the two clubs would much rather flex their financial muscle than place their faith in youth players, and that is not to say that they are not producing players.
Sundowns’ star-studded squad often means that it is difficult for the club’s development players to stake a claim in the first team. As a result, only two of the club’s first team players, in Sphelele Mkhulise and Promise Mkhuma, have been directly promoted from the development side into the first team, while over 10 of the club’s development products have been sent out on loan to various clubs.
Similarly, Pirates’ current first-team squad consists of only Kopano Thuntsane, who is the club’s third-choice goalkeeper, as the player that has been promoted directly from the development to the first team. As is the case with Sundowns, a number of their development players have been sent out on loan.
Chiefs, meanwhile, have eight players in their first team who have been directly promoted from the club’s development ranks in recent years, showing that Amakhosi are ahead of their competitors in breeding fresh homegrown talent into their senior side.
Amakhosi haven’t always got it right…
In every process, there will be trial and error, and Chiefs have had their fair share over the years.
Just recently the club had to fork out R3 million to bring their development product in Zitha Kwinika back to Naturena from Stellenbosch. The 28-year-old was a part of coach Stuart Baxter’s squad in 2015. However, with very little prospects of featuring in the first team, he was released from his contract back then.
Amakhosi have also lost out on a number of their players in recent years, who have faded into football obscurity from the club’s development ranks. The likes of Itumeleng Shopane, Sizwe Twala, Given Thibedi, Emmanuel Letlotlo and Yusuf Bunting, amongst others, all looked poised to make the switch into the Chiefs first team after impressing with the club’s reserves.
Regrettably, all of these players left Naturena without making the desired impact, leaving the club with little to no return on investment.
Although they may have gotten it wrong in previous years, the past 24 months is a clear sign that the club’s hard work over the last 12 years has finally come to fruition.