Local businessmen invest R100,000 in youth football development in Chatsworth

TWO businessmen with “deep roots” in Chatsworth have teamed up with the hope to rekindle the zest for sport among the youth in the south Durban community, by contributing over R100 000 towards a football development initiative.

Collin Naidoo and Jeremy Deokynarain are responsible for the gesture that will enable the Chatsworth Football Association, an affiliate of the South African Football Association,  to stage a football tournament, with many benefits for the players and the teams, the Pelican Pharmacy Youth Festival this weekend.

The competition that will begin on Saturday at various venues around Chatsworth, will see the association's youth structure, which includes over 100 teams, in both boys and girls divisions, pitting their skills against each other.

The event’s climax will be on Sunday with all the semi-finals and finals set for the Road 1016 sports field in Woodhurst.

For the sponsors, making the competition a reality is “close to their hearts”.

“This is for the community of Chatsworth. This is where we come from, and our opportunity to give back,” said Naidoo, who played football professionally for Berea FC in the 1980s.

Berea was an affiliate of the old Federation Professional League.

“I was fortunate enough in my playing days to have reached the heights that I did, now we hope that other children from this community can do likewise.”

Naidoo said businesses had a social responsibility to give back to communities as the government cannot be relied on to do it all.

“My business (Toyco Engineering) is not based in Chatsworth, but I have a deep spiritual and emotional connection to the area,” he said.

Having endured the difficult years of growing up in the apartheid era, Naidoo was grateful to the  administrators and football people of previous generations, who created opportunities for him and others to indulge in the sport.

“Football has had a big impact on me, and the confidence I've drawn from it has helped me through life.”

Naidoo encouraged parents to develop the culture of being fully supportive of their children and make their presence felt at all matches.

“Parental support is of paramount importance. Not all children excel academically, some do well at sport, and sport helps with their holistic development, he said.

Deokynarain, a pharmacist and owner of Pelican Pharmacy, based in Bayview, is also a committed “Chatsworth boy”.

“I grew up in this community and during my school days, I worked in the pharmacy that I have since owned for 20 years.

“I know this community well, it has a low LSM (Living Standards Measure).”

Deokynarain said that some of the current generation of children had an “entitled mindset” and were receiving little direction on how to do life and, as a result, were “going astray”.

He also emphasised the importance of sport for the all-round development of children, instead of allowing them to be “a lost generation”

“So it's our purpose to remind them that there is more to life than the negativity surrounding us.

“Collin (Naidoo) is the major sponsor of the event, from our side we decided to also make a meaningful contribution.

“God has blessed us with the opportunity to have, so I think it is time to give.

“It gives me great joy to see the kids enjoying the fruit of our labour. Hopefully we can inspire them to also be achievers in life.”

Deokynarain said Chatsworth always produced outstanding achievers in all walks of life and they looked forward to contributing to that dynamic.

Safa Chatsworth’s president, Nelson 'Spinx' Kuppen, said there was huge anticipation in their circles ahead of this weekend’s competition.

Kuppen said: “We are all excited. This competition will give our youth a pleasant distraction away from the negative vices embedded in our community.

“We are grateful to Collin (Naidoo) and Jeremy (Deokynarain) for their generosity. It's great to see a former professional footballer (Naidoo) contribute in this way because he has a good understanding of what it means to have the opportunity to play football.”

DAILY NEWS