AMONG Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba's lesser remembered achievements of the past few years was leading South Africa to victory in the Cosafa Under-17 Championships in Zambia in 2012.
SHe followed that up with another victory in the men's under-20 tournament last year before taking up the reins with the national side, where he has won most of his recent accolades.
But as Mashaba will trumpet, you have to start young and the latest crop of South African under-17 players will get the chance to make history of their own when they take part in the African Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in Bulawayo, where the football tournament is being organised by Cosafa and serves as the region's championship for this year.
The Games get under way today, but the South African men are not in action until tomorrow.
It is instead the turn of the SA women, whose competition is in the under-20 category, as they clash with hosts Zimbabwe in a four-team tournament also involving Namibia and Botswana and played in a round-robin format.
A quick check of Mashaba's under-17 squad from 2012 shows how far some of the youngsters recently called into the Bafana Bafana squad have come with him.
Rivaldo Coetzee, Fagrie Lakay, Ayabulela Magqwaka, Nhlakanipho Ntuli and Siyanda Ngubo were all part of that title-winning squad in Zambia.
It was a 15-year-old Lakay who came off the bench to inspire South Africa to a 2-1 win over Zambia in the final, already then showcasing his huge potential.
The Class of 2014 will compete in a four-team pool following the withdrawal of Seychelles and hope to use the adventure as a valuable build-up to the African Under-17 Championships in Niger next year.
New crop of U-17 stars chase glory
AMONG Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba's lesser remembered achievements of the past few years was leading South Africa to victory in the Cosafa Under-17 Championships in Zambia in 2012.
SHe followed that up with another victory in the men's under-20 tournament last year before taking up the reins with the national side, where he has won most of his recent accolades.
But as Mashaba will trumpet, you have to start young and the latest crop of South African under-17 players will get the chance to make history of their own when they take part in the African Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in Bulawayo, where the football tournament is being organised by Cosafa and serves as the region's championship for this year.
The Games get under way today, but the South African men are not in action until tomorrow.
It is instead the turn of the SA women, whose competition is in the under-20 category, as they clash with hosts Zimbabwe in a four-team tournament also involving Namibia and Botswana and played in a round-robin format.
A quick check of Mashaba's under-17 squad from 2012 shows how far some of the youngsters recently called into the Bafana Bafana squad have come with him.
Rivaldo Coetzee, Fagrie Lakay, Ayabulela Magqwaka, Nhlakanipho Ntuli and Siyanda Ngubo were all part of that title-winning squad in Zambia.
It was a 15-year-old Lakay who came off the bench to inspire South Africa to a 2-1 win over Zambia in the final, already then showcasing his huge potential.
The Class of 2014 will compete in a four-team pool following the withdrawal of Seychelles and hope to use the adventure as a valuable build-up to the African Under-17 Championships in Niger next year.
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