With social activities resuming after the hard lockdown, the organiser of YaseKasi Soccer Tournament, Patrick Moroanyane celebrated Heritage month in style by hosting a football contest within the Soweto neighbourhood of Phiri, in Joburg’s Region D. The football showpiece provided a platform for scouts to spot soccer talent for the Vodacom League, Glad Africa and other registered football academies in Johannesburg. The idea behind YaseKasi was to rally the community of Soweto around Heritage month activities, in an effort to facilitate social cohesion.

“I also wanted to create a platform for small business owners to sell services and refreshments during the soccer tournament and to provide job opportunities to most of the community members who lost their jobs due to the pandemic,” Moroanyane says.

The tournament consisted of 32 teams from across the Johannesburg region, competing in the knockout stages head to head for a R100 000 grand prize. It was held at Khotso grounds in Phiri, opposite Asha crèche. The tournament ran for 9 days over a period of 4 weekends in September, heritage month.

Moroanyane says he wanted to use the football spectacle as a symbol of South Africa’s rich cultural heritage, which includes both tangible and intangible creative expressions like music, sport, and artistic performances.

“Having visited many areas, I noticed that our community lacks one senior tournament that builds the spirit of cooperation and helps youngsters learn football skills from senior players,” he explains.

In the tournament’s semi-finals, 18 Mambas FC came from behind to claim a 2-1 victory after a wonderful first 45 minutes against Siyasanga FC.

Soweto Super United FC (SSU) played against Glenharvie FC to book a spot in the finals, with a goal margin of 2-0. After being defeated in previous tournaments, 18 Mambas FC tasted ultimate triumph in the YaseKasi tournament following a 4-3 win on penalties, following a 1-1 draw.

YaseKasi is funded by Izingapro Sport Management, an events company led by a team of experienced individuals in the sport events management industry.

Born and bred in Soweto, Pat, as Moroanyane is affectionately known, says as a young boy he didn’t play football but was approached by youngsters in his community asking for help to advance and develop the sport in the township. That’s how YaseKasi was initiated.

He asserts that looking around, it was painful to see the careers of the young footballers being wasted due to a lack of proper administration and coaching from their clubs around the community. Now that the tournament has ended, Moroanyane encourages residents of Phiri to help maintain the cleanliness of the field of play.

In his spare time, the football administrator engages the youth about life issues in general. He enjoys travelling and learning how other teams and tournament organisers in different parts of the country administer similar events.

Football teams that wish to participate in the next edition of YaseKasi can contact Moroanyane on 084 094 9130 or 073 287 6160. Alternatively, teams can email moroanyanep@gmail.com.