Former Orlando Pirates captain Lucky Lekgwathi has opened up on being the ambassador of the Shaka Easter Tournament, which is hosted in partnership with the Bundesliga.
The annual tournament, in partnership also with Schachter Sports and facilitated by Seasoned Agency, hosted their official draw on Saturday at Sun Arena in Menlyn, with former Germany defender Erik Durm - who was part of the squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup - in attendance as one of the ambassadors.
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The Shaka Easter Tournament, into its fifth year, is arguably the biggest amateur football competition in the country, in terms of prize pool fund, which totals R2 million.
Kickoff.com caught up with Lekgwathi after the draw of 96 teams, who will also be competing for prizes to travel to Germany and play with professional football academies in that country.
"It (the draw event) was proper, man, so well-organized, and you see things like these, us who are used to them. They were taking me back to PSL awards, awards at Pirates, that yho, what Shaka is doing is huge! It's not an ordinary tournament, it's one of the biggest in South Africa," Lekgwathi noted.
"It's a big privilege and an honour to be the ambassador of such a big tournament, it honours me that I'm from Soshanguve and the tournament will be hosted in Soshanguve. The tournament, in terms of prize money, is the biggest in South Africa. You know money motivates, there are teams coming from all over the country to participate.
"Every year, the tournament is on TV, SuperSport and Vision View, the tournament has already produced players for PSL teams. It's motivating to amateur players in the townships, as you know there's a lot of substance abuse and all that," said the ex-Bucs skipper.
The 96 teams will be competing across five divisions - the U13s, U17s, Females, Legends and the main Tournament, Top 32 - from 21 March to 20 April in Soshanguve, Tshwane.
"Last year, I played in the Masters, my team lost in the final. The legends you can expect are former players like Abednego Netshiozwi, Joseph Ngake, Rooi Mahamutsa, Happy Jele; Benson Mhlongo was there.
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"Everyone wants to be there, last year Josta (Dladla) was there, Lebohang Mokoena, everyone is looking forward to participate. We're giving back to the community of Soshanguve," the former Pirates skipper enthused.
The tournament has already produced players for professional teams, including Alifeyo Sibusiso and Lefa Aphane both at Cape Town City, Mkhululi Ncube for Besa Kavage in Albania and Tlotlang Gaesitswe for Mamelodi Sundowns.