It’s often said that South Africa’s raw footballing talent is on par with Brazil. But while the South Americans have won a record five FIFA World Cups, Bafana Bafana hardly qualifies for world football’s showpiece event.
The biggest reason for this is that many of the talented youngsters in the country don’t reach their full potential or develop properly because of their socio-economic circumstances. Nutrition is just as important for a footballer, and a lack of it is stymieing their development.
Marquee sports management outfit, Roc Nation Sports, wants to try and change that by giving talented youngsters that they identify and sign up the support on and off the field for them to live up to their true potential.
Roc Nation has set its sights to increase their global football footprint in Africa, and South Africa’s is considered an important market for the organisation. There are already rumours that they have snapped up talented youngsters Emile Witbooi from Cape Town City FC and Kaizer Chiefs starlet Neo Bohloko.
Global director of football at Roc Nation Nathan Campbell said he could see the difference in maturation levels between South African footballers and their European counterparts when Mamelodi Sundowns played in the 2023 KDB Cup, which is an international youth tournament for U15 kids.
While the Sundowns boys’ technical ability was at a very high level - they beat Manchester City - their physical levels were about two years behind the other 15-year-olds in the tournament.
There are obvious exceptions, but it could be why South Africa’s footballers are starting to mature at 25 and 26 instead of 22 and 23 years old. And this is way too old for the European market, who are looking at players to be ready for action by their 21st birthdays.
“The biggest eye opener for us was the maturation of young players compared to Europe,” Campbell told journalists during a recent visit to Cape Town.
“Because of where the talent pool comes from - and it’s often the same in Europe - the talent comes from the deprivation areas. The boys are not eating properly or consuming the right amount of meals each day and all of that impacts when they get to the elite level, because they are maturing later than the European boys.
“It’s important to get in at a younger age and support them with that and try and create a team around them to maximise their potential. When you are working with young players, they are never the finished article, no matter how good they are.
“So you have to support them outside of the club environment, because if their talent is there, then their physical ability can match that talent.”
Campbell says Roc Nation is aiming to expand their reach in Africa and could even start an academy, with Ghana being the central point of their operations.
The sports agency, which has big stars such as Kevin de Bruyne and Vinicius Junior on their books, want to unearth and develop hidden gems before seeking opportunities for the players in some of the biggest leagues in Europe.
“Our key strategy is to sign five or six of the best young players in Europe each year, in Brazil, the US and now Africa,” Campbell said. “The continent of Africa is rich in football talent. We have done some soft touch stuff, but now we are looking to really ramp that up.
“Our key goal is to move players to Europe. There is an abundance of talent here and with our network and support, and the support we can give them off the pitch, we think they have potential to transition.
“We are looking at West Africa to be the centre point of our wide African strategy.
“The continent is rich with talent. We have seen agencies have tried to do it, and some have done it to a good level. But it becomes transactional to them.
“We don’t just want to be a transactional agency. Michael has shown that in other sports in South Africa. When we take the talent out of communities, we want to give back in some way.”
Michael Yormark, the president of Roc Nation Sports, says the support these athletes receive off the pitch is as important as all the hours spent on it to develop and get better. They hope they can have a huge impact on the lives of these players.
"This is not about commissions and transfer fees. It’s about impacting the lives of these kids, giving them hope to develop a career in the sport, and ultimately allow them to move on to Europe and have great journeys," Yormark said.
"We want to support them on and off the pitch, supporting the people that are part of their sphere of influence, their families. Roc Nation is a family and everyone we sign we welcome into our family.
"We want to inspire them, encourage them and do whatever we possibly can to achieve their goals and objectives. They want to play on the biggest stage and our goal is to take them there.”
@JohnGoliath82