For Santos legend – and Cape Town icon – Erwin Isaacs, mental strength, an appetite to work on his game after training, and strong family values have played a huge role in his success in the Premier Soccer league.
It all started for him in the community of Lavender Hill, where all he wanted was to play.
“Growing up in Lavender Hill was not easy,” he recalls. “Dealing with gangsterism especially was very tough. My mind was always on school and my hobbies like running, cricket and soccer.”
He started out at Burnley United in Lavenderhill, later moved to Milano and then FC Fortune, and eventually ended up at Santos FC. When he began, he was a goalkeeper. He moved on to be a defender as well as a midfielder – but found his place as a striker.
At the early stages of his career, having signed his first professional contract, game time proved to be limited. As a young teenager, he didn’t understand why there had to be this whole process of phasing him in.
“My early days as a professional were frustrating as I was around 15 or 16 years old and I had to leave school, later finishing school at college and training too. With that came the lack of game time, and I was getting impatient to a point where I wanted to give up and start working instead.”
Luckily, those family values came to the rescue.
“My mother was the one who said, give it another year. The coach then spoke to me about slowly giving me more minutes. This made me hungry and it’s something that more coaches should do. This made me also work harder, doing extra after training.”
When he eventually received more minutes from Roger De Sa, he never looked back. Constantly working to better himself, he scored 55 goals and contributed 23 assists within his time in the DStv Premiership, playing for Santos, Bidvest Wits and Ajax Cape Town.
“I wasn’t the most talented but I worked really hard and I had to prove myself to all the experienced players around me. When I wasn’t playing I got a bit depressed but got myself out of it because I’m one of the most mentally strong people. I know what it is to struggle.”
Coaching, Education & Paying It Forward
It’s not just his family that helped Isaacs achieve his potential. The person on the field that played a major role in his development as a footballer was his coach, Roger De Sa.
“My favourite coach was Roger Da Sa, because he gave me the chance to play in the PSL,” he says. “He was the only coach that believed in me. Would always provide opportunities because I could basically play in any position and I was the man for the job.”
With that example to follow, Isaacs is paying it forward, with a coaching licence that allows him to coach at ABC Motsepe League level.
“I’m still playing and enjoying my football in Lavender Hill, getting involved with the youth. My experience with scoring goals in the PSL could be a great help to today’s current crop of players, who sometimes struggle to score goals on a consistent basis.”
And there are lessons beyond football as well. In hindsight, the 55-Premiership-goal holder says if he could do it all over, he would have invested a portion of his money in property. Because life hits hard after football without a degree or any investments to fall back on.
“I believe that players must get a degree and pursue education because life after football is real. The struggle is real, I can tell you now. While I was playing I never thought of making provision for when I stop playing, I just thought the money was coming in. Experienced players would always tell me, put money away, but I thought it’s alright, man.”
Right now, he commits his time in the community of Lavender Hill through football, sharing his knowledge of the game as well as experiences that could help the youth learn from his challenges (as a footballer and after) and make better decisions.
“My mother and father always encouraged me with everything I wanted to do,” he says. “Now I want to do the same.”
Images supplied by Kick off and News24
Edited by Nicklaus Kruger
