Sharing political ideas and work related issues became the thing of the past when an idea of forming a soccer club was mooted by four friends who used to spend their time talking politics in the Alfred Nzo Region. Reports are saying that the idea was proposed by Nathi Nqoko, a Councilor at Alfred Nzo District Municipality who was the regional chairperson of the ANCYL then and his comrades who happened to work at the same municipality.
In 2017 the team Sinenkani Football Club was founded under Nqoko’s chairmanship and Lixolile Petela was made the spokesperson of the club. That is when the name Sinenkani started to be popular on Social Media and other media outlets. What was noticeable though was that the team was in the headlines because they were winning almost all their matches. The other noticeable thing was the name of this club “Sinenkani” which many people wanted to know why Sinenkani, and what is the objective of the name.
“The name is based on resilience, perseverance and hope for better things to come. It is about pushing even if you know that you are coming from a poor back ground but you fight for the best result, which is the bright future, explains Sinenkani PRO, Lixolile Petela. He said most of their players in the club are coming from poor background that is where the name “Sinenkani” plays a role by encouraging players and the management them to succeed.
“We have won against resourceful teams in the big cities all around South Africa and we have earned a lot of respect from the teams that we played with. The team is assembled and managed in a professional way because we know where we are going. We have got players that are from all over South Africa, in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal and other areas.
That tells you we are in pursuit of bright future. According to Petela Sinenkani FC which is based in Mbizana is currently playing in the ABC Motsepe League. On Saturday next week Sinenkani will be beginning its journey from ABC Motsepe to NFD when they will be playing in the NEDBANK Cup competition with Mbizana Pondo Chiefs in what is dubbed as Mbizana derby.
Commenting about this match Petela said the team is in a good state of mind. “Our aim this season is to reach the NFD status. Although 90% of our players are coming back this season, but we have managed to buy few players to strengthen few positions. We have also employed the services of experienced technical team with goal keeper coaches. That is a sign that we mean business”, said Petela. He said, “We are going to beat Mbizana Pondo Chiefs , we don’t care about them coming from the higher status than ours but they must know we are going to teach them a lesson.
“To run a serious club like this one is not a child ‘s play. This project needs a lot of money. At the moment everything that we do, we do it from our pockets. We seriously need a sponsor. Anyone who can come in and invest they will be investing in a well oiled machine that is ready to go. We have build a brand that is now in pursuit of a bright future”, concluded Petela
