Life skills good for football players
Lazarus Sauti
Professional football,
without an iota of doubt, is now a billion dollar industry and football players
should get a piece of the big cake.
Soccer players should
come home on retirement and invest their money wisely.
To do this, they should
be taught the importance of life skills.
Former Zimbabwe
national team player Elasto Kapowezha believes life skills help soccer players’
deal with distractions to their careers.
“I teach the Wits
(South African premier league team) senior and junior teams life skills, which
are mainly based in the teachings of the Bible.
“The aim is to build
role models from our soccer players and also to help them deal with challenges
that most soccer players face like unprotected sex, alcohol abuse and financial
mismanagement,” said Kapowezha.
Premiership teams in
Africa should teach their players life skills in order to mentor them on what
to do with the little they gain from the game.
Zimbabwe’s veteran
sports writer, Fanuel Viriri once said: “Professional football is easier than
coal mining, but it is not without strain.
“Every boy plays
football, but the numbers that make a career from it are tiny. The select few
must have ability and dedication, but also the mental resolve to be able to
withstand almost constant public judgment.
“They may slide to
alcoholism and drug abuse. Premiership teams should have a ‘what to do with
your money earned list’ for the players from the day they sign their first
professional contract.
“Clubs should mentor
their players on what to do with the huge transfer fees …”
The plans of
prioritising life skills should be to help football players’ deal with
distractions to their careers following the realisation that most soccer
players struggle to cope with fame and new found fortune.
Some football players
are not mentally prepared for the world of professional football.
Instead of putting
their monies in to good use, they plunder it like the Biblical prodigal son.
To effectively help
them, clubs should teach their players professional football etiquette and
simple things on how to handle oneself in public.
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