Stop partying, Ramovic tells aspirant footballers

No alcohol, no parties, no fast food and get enough sleep.

That's TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic’s message to all aspiring footballers in SA. 

There’s plenty of talent in SA, especially in the townships and rural areas, every neighbourhood or school has that one promising talent. However, that young prospect often gets lost in the system due to substance abuse.

Meanwhile, some of those who are from structured football academies struggle with lifestyle discipline when they get to the professional ranks, and that affects their performance and then they end up not realising their full potential. 

Rockets coach Ramovic painted a picture of what young players need to do if they want to have a chance of making it in a cutthroat industry such as football. 

“In this kind of business you have to work every day, you always have to improve every day, if not, the other one will soon get their chance,” said Ramovic. 

“Only the strong ones and the people that understand that make it. You have to be professional in this business; so no alcohol, no parties, no fast food, you have to get sleep. If these young guys understand this and go every day to training to learn tactically, then that’s the only way to improve.

“With young players, when they play two games well, they start to fight with their own mind, they have to learn that the main battle is against their own mind. To work every day, they have to do what they did before they got to the stage where they play well,” said. 

The talent factory that is the DStv Diski Challenge kicked off this past weekend, with the big story being that of Joseph Makhanya returning to the Orlando Pirates reserve team in the capacity of coach. His charges managed to get a 3-2 win over Kaizer Chiefs. 

Results: Kaizer Chiefs 2-3 Orlando Pirates, Stellenbosch 2-3 Cape Town City, AmaZulu 1-0 Golden Arrows, Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 SuperSport United, Chippa United 1-1 Royal AM, Swallows 1-1 Richards Bay, Sekhukhune United 2-0 Marumo Gallants.