At some point, it hurts me

Tshepang Mailwane: Zama, we haven’t seen you in a while in the game of football. Why haven’t we been seeing you in the PSL after you came up through the ranks at SuperSport United and showed promising signs in the junior national team

Zama Rambuwane: Than for the opportunity, groo man (big man). The reaso why you have not been seeing me or I have not been playing is that, in 2019, when SuperSport United and I parted ways that year I was training wi and I got injured very bad when I broke my ankle and, o I had no team. It was kind of to recover quickly. But, with of God, I recovered and th that, I tried going for trials w of the clubs.

TM: Which clubs? ZR:

I went to Baroka FC, b did not take me. I went to Sekh United, but they also did not ta I went to Pretoria Callies and th did not take me. I went to quite clubs in the PSL for assessmen they ended up not taking me. now, I am still training alone an trying to find a team, you know that’s what I have been up to in r times. But I have been training a trying to get fit so that if there ar teams in the PSL that say they players, I can go there for assessm

TM: Phew, that must be so diffi because 2019 was three years ago you have not had a club since th B esides training on your own, w are you doing to survive or sust yourself?

ZR: It’s really been difficult, y know. I don’t want to lie, it’s very d ficult because you have been used having an income for a while and th it changes after years of me playin It’s really been difficult, but my pa ents have been there for me. My par ents and my friends have been reall supportive. They have been ther throughout this period, but it has no been easy, even with them being there for me.

TM: You were recently a referee at Futbol Fives (five-a-side) during one of the media events. Is it something you have been doing to help you with getting an income or was it just a oneoff thing?

ZR: It’s actually something that I do. It’s just a side hustle for me. I worked for Balfour Futbol Fives. I play there every Friday, so when I am not playing, I do work as a referee and everything. I play indoor football a lot. So, I train and then I play indoor football. I play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday – basically, I play indoor football the whole week. I play at Discovery in Sandton and I play at the Discovery at Wanderers. So, yes, refereeing is what I do if I am

not playing any games.

TM: How much does that side hustle help you while you continue to look for a club?

ZR: It does help me, in a way, because… I don’t know if you know a team called Football Flavour. We play tournaments and there is money involved. When we win, the owner of the team shares the money with us equally. It helps me. Also, with the refereeing, there is a certain amount of money you get, but it depends on the games that you ref. You get money being a referee and it helps to keep you going. If I need to buy something for myself, then I can use that money, or to just have a little money for myself instead of relying on my parents all the time, you know.

TM: That makes sense. You’ve come through the ranks with some players who

U w w d b h hi I h m ba be als rub I w mee wish we w topl are r mess what me th the ga

TM: ZR:

from t even h train with a team for almost a month. Every day, while I am training, I would get good remarks and they would tell