By REGINALD KANYANE
The newly-promoted football side, Mega Stars FC is a ‘beacon of hope’ for the community of Taung. Mega Stars FC coach, Keaobaka Makoloi could not hide his excitement after his side was promoted to the ABC Motsepe League recently.
“As Taung Mega Stars FC, we feel great and thankful to God for this achievement. Our players are in a jovial mood and excited at the same time. Plying our trade in the 2nd division will be a great opportunity for our players to take their football careers forward.
“We all take great pride in seeing young people from our community achieving success in sport. It is our wish to see our players progressing from amateur football to the semi-professional phase. We believe that they will draw inspiration from other teams that have made it through in the past and became one of the best teams in the elite league,” Makoloi said.
He further said even though they came across some challenges, he is thankful for all the unwavering support they received from their fans, the people of Taung and North West at large.
“For the club to stay abreast, we have been trying to invite business people and our municipality to assist where possible with the financial muscle. Our main concern will be transportation, as we will be traveling across the province to honour our games.
“So far, we are yet to conclude the matter with our local and district municipalities, but the response is promising. We hope to get something concrete soon. We contribute from our own pockets thus far to ensure that the team is operational,” he said.
Makoloi calls on business people to invest in the team and assist them to fight their financial woes. He said the club has potential and they have disciplined, dedicated, and determined players and staff.
“Taung Mega Stars FC was established in March 2011 and its achievement says a lot. Together, we managed to face-off those challenges and we are finally promoted. The current crop of coaches and management started working together in 2017.
“We went to the provincial playoffs in 2017 season, unfortunately, we lost through penalties. We did not lose hope and we regrouped to try once more. In 2018, we only managed to finish in position two. However, we are now happy that in our third season, we finally made it despite our financial difficulties,” said Makoloi.
He also applauded the Greater Taung Local Municipality mayor, Kgosi Nnyoko Motlhabane who assisted them with transportation during their regional and provincial play-offs.
Makoloi warned his players to remain level-headed and to remember that, this is only the beginning. He said they have made sure that the players and the staff respectively understand the mammoth task ahead of them.
“We always encourage our players including our staff to understand our ultimate goal, which is to reach the professional status as a club. We still have to work harder and there is no time to let our guts down.
“As a team, we have a vision and we need to continue where we left off. We need to show hunger and determination if we want to ensure our dream becomes true,” he said.
Meanwhile, the GTLM mayor, Kgosi Nnyoko Motlhabane shared the same sentiments. Motlhabane said that Mega Stars FC has potential and its achievement is a positive start in the right direction.
“We have taken a decision as the municipality to support them because they have shown pedigree and hunger. You will remember that sport is one of the components that are used to address socio-economic challenges and to keep our youth out of the streets.
“What Mega Stars FC has done will also encourage other young people to take part in sport and stay away from the abuse of drugs and alcohol. This will help in identifying the local talents because there is an abundance of them here. There is a proven record that there is a remarkable success in sport and can change many lives especially those who are from poverty-stricken backgrounds,” he said.
Currently, the ABC Motsepe League features 144 teams in total but divided into nine divisions. Borderly, they are decided by the nine geo-political provinces of South Africa.
This means, that each provincial division contains 16 teams as standard. The winner of each provincial division qualifies for the annual promotional play-offs, where the winners of two streams, will get promoted to the National First Division.
The Guardian 