The addition of new teams exceeded the Sol Plaatje Local Football Association’s expectations in view of the lockdown situation.
THE RANKS of the Sol Plaatje Local Football Association (LFA) have been swollen with the signing of five more men’s teams which include two from the settlement of Platfontein situated west of the City of Kimberley.
An ecstatic LFA chairperson Seabata Makhele on Friday said the addition of the new teams exceeded their expectations in view of the lockdown situation which severely restricted football activity both locally and countrywide.
Makhele said he was especially excited about the addition to the LFA fraternity of the two teams from the Platfontein settlement. “There had up to now been no LFA representation in that part of Kimberley since that settlement was established over three decades ago,” he said.
Teams from that area include Platfontein Celtic FC and De Luz Santos FC. The rest are regular teams from the greater Galeshewe area and include: Basotho United FC, Kimberlite FC and a reformed Shooting Stars FC.
Shooting Stars, even though it is a brand new team in the LFA, the name belonged to a team that in years gone by was registered with the defunct Kimberley Local Football Association (KIMFA) in the 1970s.
That team went bust in the latter half of the 1980s.
Shooting Stars head coach Similo Qakatha explained that they had no link with their earlier namesake. They had selected that name for themselves when they had registered with the LFA in Dealesville in the Free State around the time of the team’s formation some years back.
“The team was originally based in Dealesville. We relocated to Kimberley before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. We had noted that youngsters over there (Dealesville) were very interested in pursuing formal football but there were no avenues where they could do so. This meant prospects for pursuing a football career were nil. Kimberley presented an opportunity for us to pursue our dreams in formal football,” Qakatha said.
He further explained that Shooting Stars had last year bought the LFA status of Inter Milano FC which ceased to operate in the LFA.
The LFA will on March 1 launch the new 2020/21 season with matches which will be played under strict Covid-19 regulations using only three venues approved for that purpose in the Galeshewe-Kimberley area.
