The HollywoodBets Mayambela Community Cup will see talented Under 21 footballers playing their hearts out in Khayelitsha from 15 to April 2022, with the winners taking home pride and glory – and R30 000.

When two brothers came up with the idea of starting a tournament in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha, nobody could have predicted the dimensions and magnitude of what it would become.

Mark Mayambela, a retired PSL footballer known for dazzling the fans while playing for Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates, and his younger brother Mihlali, who currently plays for Portuguese side Farense, launched the Mayambela Community Cup, to inspire young boys and girls to follow their dreams.

Since then, they’ve watched it grow from being a typical Easter “kasi” tournament to implementing different programmes of support and upliftment – and with new partners on board, the newly-renamed Hollywoodbets Mayambela Community Cup promises to be bigger and better than ever.

“We’ve seen the tournament grow from an extra competition to play football to a place where youth leave transformed, and with something to think about with regards to how they see the world,” says Mark Mayambela. “We’re trying to show how much we care about our community – and how much the community cares about football.” 

So just how much do the brothers care? And what is their own footballing background? Well…

(Image: Mark Mayembela)

Family Football: Mayambela Brothers In Arms

Football has been a part of the Mayambela brother’s lives for nearly as long as Mark can remember

“Born and raised in Khayelitsha, I have spent most of my life here,” Mark recalls. “At eight I played for a team called Fast Eleven. From there I would say my first team of structure was when I was 15 and I joined Mother City. It was a great experience because it brought together players from different townships and different people in and around Cape Town.” 

“The time came for me to move to Trinitarians in the Vodacom league (ABC Motsepe league), for one season. This led me to Old Mutual Academy, a team I was with for more than two years and the prospect of playing for Bloemfontein Celtic came around in 2007. This is when my professional football career started after making the trial. 

Meanwhile, his brother was also making his way through football at u12, which was coached by Ian Taylor. 

“Mihlali was always behind me in football; when I was at Bloem he went for trials at Orlando Pirates – and a few months later I joined Pirates. I always tried to open doors for him wherever I played.” 

Mihlali’s next move was Kaizer Chiefs and when Mark left for Sweden he went back to Cape Town and joined ASD Academy. (“That was when he grew and became a better player – and a better person.”) This gave him the opportunity to sign for Cape Town All Stars and went on to play in the Bayhill Premier Cup, where he won the player of the tournament award. 

“So we’ve always shared everything and were part of each other’s journeys. He has learned from my highs as well as my lows – as well as his own. Because of that you can see it in the way he behaves. How focused he is on his football, to a point where he has become a household name in Portugal for SC Farense.” 

Mark is proud of his brother’s achievements.

“He has built a family and career for himself. He’s been in Europe for six years and I never wanted him to walk in my shadow but he has established and created his own legacy in football. I know that he will continue to blossom and continue to grow. Going on in achieving his life goals as well.”

Mark also played for a number of clubs, including Djurgården in Sweden, Supersport United, Black Aces, Chippa United, Ajax Cape Town and Cape Town City.

(Image: Mihlali Mayembela)

Partnering To Grow The Cup – And The Community

The critical part of the community cup is for them to create a society that is free from crime, violence and providing proper opportunities for the youth – and on top of this giving them the necessary support throughout the tournament. 

The Mayambela Foundation has used football to reach out to the community, showing their stance when it comes to the development of township people. 

“We want to show that football is a tool that can help remove the constraints that slow down the youth of today – and conjure up a forward-looking culture within our challenging society.” 

That’s why Mark and his brother have partnered with HollywoodBets and have changed the name to the HollywoodBets Mayambela Community Cup. 

“These are the right people to partner with, because they share our vision and sentiments. The other things that we want to add are educational programmes of a similar nature for the youth. HollywoodBets will help and they have shown that they care for our societies.” 

The organisers want the Cup to become an established Easter tournament and a mainstay for years to come – and that’s only the beginning, as the brothers plan to take it to other provinces as well.

“We want it to be a national cup,” says Mark. “I’ve played in different provinces all over the country and seeds were planted because of those experiences. And hopefully this partnership can help give others the chance to experience that as well.”

Other partners have come on board as well, and are helping to make their vision a reality.

“Food Town Hyper, another partner from Khayelitsha, has blessed us with 100 food parcels at the moment. This is aimed at the footballers who are the breadwinners of their family, bringing across the notion that they are not alone with whatever they are going through and we want to inspire them. This is something that the foundation wants to do more going forward. We want to expand as much as we can in terms of the content of the cup and reach as many young people as we can,” says Mayambela.

The HollywoodBets Under 21 Mayambela Community Cup will see 32 men’s teams and eight women’s teams battling it out in Khayelitsha Stadium from 15 to 18 April 2022. Brand new kits will also be presented to the finalists, and a variety of prizes will be available, including a Player of the Tournament award – and the overall winners will be taking home R30 000, with the runners up receiving R15 000. 

There will be a selection of 18-20 best players  for a three-week coaching and training programme with Mark Mayambela. They will also play friendlies with the elite teams from around Cape Town with the aim of affording them an opportunity to compete in a structured games/ programmes and an opportunity to showcase their talents to scouts and established teams.

 There will also be youth development programmes by professional coaches and doctors on issues such as mental awareness, substance abuse, depression and personal coaching clinics.

Hollywoodbets Mayambela Community Cup Partners

Hollywoodbets

Love life 

Khayelitsha Community Trust

Radio Zibonele

IDiski Times

Makonco Media

Food Town Hyper

Khayelitsha TV

Western Cape Government, Department of Sport 

Edited by Nicklaus Kruger