Mabu Moroaswi has been involved in women's football for more than a decade.
He has invested his time - and at times his personal earnings - in the development of the women's game in his home town of Witbank, Mpumalanga.
His commitment and passion for women's football date back to 1999 when he assumed ownership of Wizards, which he inherited from fellow community members Boyze Rampisa and Sammy Sekatane, who co-founded the club in 1998.
Moroaswi has seen his pet project grow despite the challenges that confront the women's game, such as lack of sponsorship.
He recently guided the team to the semifinals of the Sasol National Championships in Mossel Bay, Western Cape last month. Wizards qualified by virtue of being the champions of Mpumalanga.
They finished fourth at the week-long national tournament that was won by Bloemfontein Celtic.
Despite falling short of glory, Moroaswi's main objective is to nurture female players. He said "passion and nothing else" compensated for the lack of financial reward.
"Girls are very interesting to coach. It's easy compared to coaching boys because they [females] listen and their commitment is very deep once they are part of the set-up; they won't dump you like the boys would, especially at amateur level," said Moroaswi, who is employed as a blaster at Andru Mining in Mpumalanga.
"I do it for the love of the game, despite many challenges. For instance, the running costs of this club easily reach R150000 per month but we are surviving," said Moroaswi, adding that he sometimes used his earnings to boost the team.
"We have approached businesses, and even our local municipality, but it's just promises and nothing happens. We are thankful to the company that I work for because they help us whenever we are in need of basic things such as tracksuits, for instance.
"We spend around R6000 on match days as this covers food and transport. Just taking players from Johannesburg to Witbank costs half of this amount."
This because the club is based in Witbank and Moroaswi's players come from all over the place - some are from North West, Vaal, Limpopo and Gauteng.
"Some of our players are students while others have piece jobs and we only meet on Fridays just before our weekend fixtures."
Moroaswi has never let these challenges stand in his way. Wizards have been crowned provincial winners three times in a row and their former player Thando Vilakazi now stars for the SA under-19 team.
Wizards clinched a bronze medal on their debut at the nationals in 2014.
They lost to JVW - owned by Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk - in the semifinals of last year's nationals.
Van Wyk founded her club in 2012 and it's thanks to her contribution and that of Moroaswi that Fifa believes women's football has more potential for growth.
The two are among those calling for the formation of a domestic professional league to harness the true potential of women's football.
Unsung hero of women's football doing his bit
Mabu Moroaswi has been involved in women's football for more than a decade.
He has invested his time - and at times his personal earnings - in the development of the women's game in his home town of Witbank, Mpumalanga.
His commitment and passion for women's football date back to 1999 when he assumed ownership of Wizards, which he inherited from fellow community members Boyze Rampisa and Sammy Sekatane, who co-founded the club in 1998.
Moroaswi has seen his pet project grow despite the challenges that confront the women's game, such as lack of sponsorship.
He recently guided the team to the semifinals of the Sasol National Championships in Mossel Bay, Western Cape last month. Wizards qualified by virtue of being the champions of Mpumalanga.
They finished fourth at the week-long national tournament that was won by Bloemfontein Celtic.
Despite falling short of glory, Moroaswi's main objective is to nurture female players. He said "passion and nothing else" compensated for the lack of financial reward.
"Girls are very interesting to coach. It's easy compared to coaching boys because they [females] listen and their commitment is very deep once they are part of the set-up; they won't dump you like the boys would, especially at amateur level," said Moroaswi, who is employed as a blaster at Andru Mining in Mpumalanga.
"I do it for the love of the game, despite many challenges. For instance, the running costs of this club easily reach R150000 per month but we are surviving," said Moroaswi, adding that he sometimes used his earnings to boost the team.
"We have approached businesses, and even our local municipality, but it's just promises and nothing happens. We are thankful to the company that I work for because they help us whenever we are in need of basic things such as tracksuits, for instance.
"We spend around R6000 on match days as this covers food and transport. Just taking players from Johannesburg to Witbank costs half of this amount."
This because the club is based in Witbank and Moroaswi's players come from all over the place - some are from North West, Vaal, Limpopo and Gauteng.
"Some of our players are students while others have piece jobs and we only meet on Fridays just before our weekend fixtures."
Moroaswi has never let these challenges stand in his way. Wizards have been crowned provincial winners three times in a row and their former player Thando Vilakazi now stars for the SA under-19 team.
Wizards clinched a bronze medal on their debut at the nationals in 2014.
They lost to JVW - owned by Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk - in the semifinals of last year's nationals.
Van Wyk founded her club in 2012 and it's thanks to her contribution and that of Moroaswi that Fifa believes women's football has more potential for growth.
The two are among those calling for the formation of a domestic professional league to harness the true potential of women's football.
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