Hlompho Kekana: From aspiring ball boy to CAF Champions League winner

Hlompho Kekana has recalled how watching his first Premier Soccer League match from the stands inspired a football journey that eventually took him to CAF Champions League success with Mamelodi Sundowns.

Kekana was not yet a teenager when his brother Jeffrey took him to Pietersburg Stadium, now known as Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, during the 1996/97 season to watch Real Rovers play Hellenic.

“My brother Jeffrey took me to Pietersburg Stadium (now Old Peter Mokaba Stadium) to watch Real Rovers against Hellenic around 1996/97,” recalls Kekana while bursting out in laughter.

The match gave him the chance to see several players he admired, including George ‘Rubber’ Mathiba, Alex Bapela and Gerald Raphahlela, who was known as ‘Mgababa’.

“That is when I saw (George) ‘Rubber’ Mathiba, who I enjoyed watching in that team, which also had Alex Bapela and ‘Mgababa’ (Gerald Raphahlela).

“After that, I never saw the game the same because I wanted to be like them.

“That stadium experience changed my connection with the game.

“[Laughing] However, the one thing that I wanted my brother to do was to ask them to allow me to be a ball boy in the next match so that I can be closer to the players on the field.

“So, I just wanted to be a ball boy.”

The experience came at a time when South African football was entering a new era. In 1996, while he was living in the village of Zebediela, Kekana watched Bafana Bafana win the Africa Cup of Nations on television, having seen Orlando Pirates claim the Champions League title the previous year.

Those successes helped shape his ambitions and encouraged him to believe that a career in football was possible.

“In 1996, while in the village in Zebediela, it was a privilege watching Bafana Bafana lift the AFCON on television after having gotten to see Orlando Pirates lift the Champions League the previous year.

“That 1996 Bafana team instilled the drive for us to follow our football dreams because all I wanted was to emulate those that I watched on television.”

Kekana says his early introduction to the sport made his eventual achievements all the more meaningful. He began using football boots regularly at about 13 or 14 because organised football could not be played without them under the rules at the time.

His late uncle, Andries, bought him his first pair: an oversized Adidas Argentina.

“I was a kid who made a career out of what started as a hobby and woke up with a CAF Champions League winners’ medal one morning.

“I was a kid who started using soccer boots properly around 13/14 because the rules were strict and didn’t allow organised football to be played without soccer boots.

“So, we were forced to use them, and you had to start getting used to using them.

“My late uncle, Andries, bought me my first pair of boots, which was an oversized Adidas Argentina.”

Kekana believes the simplicity of his childhood produced a particular kind of happiness, even compared with the experiences available to children today.

“That is why I’m of the opinion that my childhood memories at the age of 10 brought more joy than the one that my 10-year-old son gets now.”

He retired after 11 successful years at Mamelodi Sundowns and says the progress made by the PSL has improved the environment for modern players.

“It has been a journey that gives me pride in seeing footballers playing in a better environment and so the leadership needs to be commended for making the PSL better,” says Kekana.