Blind soccer coach keeps Motherwell teens out of crime

Coach Lundi Potelwa (centre) with some of the youngsters he trains. Photos: Joseph Chirume.

“We have deep respect for our coach,” Motherwell grade 9 pupil Siphosethu Kiti says of soccer and netball coach Lundi Potelwa.

Potelwa, who is visually impaired, has about 50 teenagers under his charge, with the Peace Fighters football club as the flagship of his organisation, Mfengu Nation, which he started in 2024.

Potelwa receives a disability grant, some of which he uses to support his team.

“We should rally behind him because the club has transformed the lives of many children in this area,” says Abonga Peter, a soccer player in grade 10.

“Our main challenge is a lack of sporting kits. We play barefoot and in ordinary clothes. It is our wish and appeal to well-wishers to sponsor our teams with kits and sporting shoes,” says Peter.

Potelwa says he started coaching “after hearing horrific stories of young people who joined crime and ended up either in prison or dead”.

“Sport is the only way to keep our kids away from crime. I encourage them to respect their elders in the community and to take their schoolwork seriously,” says Potelwa

His players train in a public park in NU 11, Motherwell. He says they have sometimes been chased away by residents who want to use the park for their own games.

“We also have problems with some homeowners around the park, especially when our practice balls fall into their yards,” he says.

He wants a dedicated ground for his players and has identified a site where Mbasa Secondary School used to be, which has become a “filthy dumping ground”.

“I wish we could be allowed to use it instead of leaving it as the eyesore it is now,” says Potelwa.

He plans to approach the ward councillor again, which is “the correct route” according to Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya.

The councillor would then facilitate a meeting with the sports directorate, said Soyaya.

Potelwa also plans to raise funds for a soup kitchen to feed his players and children in the community.

“There’s too much poverty in Motherwell. The rate of unemployment is high, so we have to … attract children to join sports and move away from crime,” he says.

The dumping site Potelwa wants to convert to a dedicated playing field for his sports organisation.

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