Maluleka – Parents Must Support Young Footballers

George Maluleka has called on parents to support their kids during the upcoming Engen Knockout Challenge.

The Engen Knockout Challenge 2022 draw for the Western Cape finals was conducted in Langa, Cape Town, after five weeks of qualifying rounds. A packed hall at Johnson Gwevele led by the tournament director and the chairman of the hosting club Wanderers Football Club, Eric Gum, witnessed a draw that saw two-time defending champions Ubuntu FC drawn alongside tournament favourites Cape Town Spurs.

The Engen Knockout is celebrating 20 years of development of football, and is known for producing many good players over the years. Maluleka was there as an ambassador alongside Mark Mayambela.

Maluleka’s exit from Mamelodi Sundowns was announced earlier this month, and he is about to be a free agent.

Maluleka told iDiski Times exclusively that parents should go and support the upcoming footballers during this important time.

“I think it’s a good initiative especially for the upcoming young players’ development structure in our country,  obviously in Cape Town as well because of the tournament how is it structured you get all the champs from each region, and then they face off in Gauteng for Champs of Champs so it’s a very good initiative,” Maluleka told iDiski Times.

“It’s a start of great things, I think if you do well in this tournament you set your step ahead towards the right direction because if you look at the guys that played this tournament myself, Luke Fleurs, there’s a lot of other guys Kermit Erasmus, Daine Klate that have played this tournament. These are big household names in South Africa or development like Luke, it’s inspirational for these guys to see us being part of this tournament and going on to greater things hopefully also they can do the same thing.

“It’s very important for the parents to support because these young guys will that they have the backing then they will give everything going to the field knowing that there’s someone watching him from home he/she will want to impress. Parents just show support to the kinds. Thank you to Engen for this.

The tournament is set to kick off on 8 July 2022, 16 boys’ teams and 8 girls’ teams will be contesting for the big prize and a place at the Gauteng Champs of Champs.

Click below to read the FREE digital version of the iDiski Times newspaper, with interviews with Kaylin Swart, Romain Folz, Steve Barker, and Solly Mohlabeng chatting about is SAFA Presidential campaign, plus we have two fantastic coaching columns, the latest transfer rumours and much more!