By Sinaye Mphalala.  Images: Supplied

The first edition of the annual Diski Legacy Football Tournament, launched on 24 September 2022 at Langa Stadium, served as a platform to raise awareness of pressing social issues.

 Cape Town grassroots football can be a powerful tool to aid the educational development of young men. That was the idea behind the first edition of the annual Diski Legacy Football Tournament, launched on 24 September 2022 at Langa Stadium and hosted by the Langa for Men charity organization.

 “The whole idea behind this tournament is to introduce a football competition that will serve as a platform to create and raise awareness of the most concerning social issues that are suffocating our communities,” says Langa for Men co-founder Siyabonga Khusela. 

 The tournament, played by under 16s and senior teams, was organized into four groups initially followed by a one-leg knockout stage involving the group winners leading up to the final. But in the end, there could be only one – and Lion City FC emerged triumphant, taking home the honours as well as the R5000 prize money.

 It didn’t only include on-the-pitch activities, though – there was also a series of educational workshops leading up to the kickoff of the tournament.

 Players were taught about and provided guidance on social issues such as the meaning of manhood, the prevalence of gender-based violence, drugs, gangsterism, illegal dumping and teenage pregnancy. They were also offered workshops to help them develop their business management skills.

 The Diski Legacy Tournament managed to host over 400 soccer players in their series of workshops in its first year – a significant number for such a new project.

 “The educational development of young men using sports to teach them about social issues that society face on a daily basis as individuals and as a community is a topic that is shied upon, and not spoken about as it should,” says Khusela. “We will try to correct that.”

 Langa For Men: A Better World For Everyone

 The workshops were an extension of the vision Khusela and co-founder Luyolo Lengisi shared when they launched Langa For Men in August 2019. Only 21 at the time, they’d both been involved in organizations that are advocating for rights of the people – and having grown up in Langa themselves, they saw the need for opening an organization that would help boys to be better men.

 “Our vision is to create a safe space for every gender and also involve everyone in the fight for women and young girls,” Khusela notes. “We want to reprogramme the minds of men and invest in a young boy child using a variety of methods.”

 Langa for Men’s soccer team, Langa for Men Martial Eagles FC, is founded on the notion that anyone affiliated with the football club carries social responsibility to participate in the movement against the underlying social issues that form the breeding ground for a society that is now embroiled in gender-based violence that has become out of control.

 “Grassroots football is the foundation for young players to express themselves and showcase their ability,” Siyabonga says. “We aim to bridge the gap between sports and education – and help young men find their place in the community, and the world,” Khusela added.

Edited by Nicklaus Kruger