Wattville United from the vibrant streets of Wattville took victory in the Diskie 99 Festive Games against the AfroXI soccer team from Duduza during the semi-finals at Duduza Stadium on January 7, 2023.
The Diskie 99 Festive Games started off with 32 soccer teams and saw only one winner. Hostees of the tournament, Jobe Foundation awarded Wattville United with R100 000, 00 for taking the first position.
Speaking to Khutso Dlamini from the management team of the club, he mentioned that the win meant everything to them, more importantly, it proved that they were well-educated servants of the game.“The tournament was well organized in such a way that the officials were fair and did not officiate dubiously which in turn allowed for the smooth completion of the games, the team played fantastic football throughout the whole tournament and they imposed their abilities in every game.”The football club was initiated in the year 2016 by a handful of professionals and amateur players to fulfil the purpose of playing year-end festival tournaments.
The club is based in the heart of Wattville in the section that is famously known for being the residence of ‘Oliver Adelaide Tambo’ the famous ANC stalwarts who were instrumental in the abolishment of the apartheid regime. The football club’s first major honours were the prestigious “IBHOLA LETHU” tournament, a year-end festival tournament that sees more than 7000 fans gracing the dusty Mabuya ground in Daveyton.
Taking the big step to register the team as a non-profit organisation, helped the team in moving away from only participation in the year-end tournaments but also got an opportunity to be part of tournaments such as DISCOVERY, STEVEN PIENAAR TOURNAMENT, POLLEN NDLANYA TOURNAMENT, and GBV AWARENESS PROGRAMME.
“Our participation in these tournaments has paved a way for some of the team members to join professionals sides such as Kaizer Chiefs, Highlands Park, Mpumalanga Black Aces youth academy, Richards Bay United, Black Leopards, WITS University, TS Galaxy, Sekhukhune United,” said Dlamini.
By Simphiwe Nkosi
