“I learned all about life with a ball at my feet” – Ronaldinho
“I have learned that, to be with those I like, is enough” – Walt Whitman
Mention Stellenbosch, the area, and you think rugby.
Mention Stellenbosch University – Maties – and you think rugby.
But, despite this perception, there is a strong football culture in the region.
The Winelands has long been the breeding ground of some of the Western Cape’s most exciting football talent – like the late Reggie Jantjies, the brilliant Peter “Lucky” Fisher, Phillip Luiters and Aubrey Isaacs [that’s to name just a few… it would need a bit more space to pay tribute to the many, many top players to have emerged from Stellenbosch].
Cloetesville, Idas Valley, Jamestown and Kayamandi are just a few of the Stellenbosch suburbs in which football is king.
In fact, one of the reasons behind Stellenbosch FC’s rise in the Premier Soccer League [PSL] is because the club has dipped into this untapped reservoir of talent in the area.
Now, however, it’s not only Stellenbosch FC that has captured the attention of the country’s football followers, it’s Maties as well.
Last week, Maties won the ‘B’ section of the University Sport of SA [USSA] football tournament – and the team will now be promoted to the ‘A’ section.
So, now, Stellenbosch – the area – and Stellenbosch – the university – as well as Stellenbosch FC – the PSL club – are firmly and lovingly in the spotlight: for football, not rugby.
The USSA ‘A’ section, of course, is important because the teams finishing in the Top 8 of that division qualify to play in the popular Varsity Football Cup. Next year, Maties will have a shot at qualifying for that event.
Maties won all their games in the tournament last week, without conceding a goal, with victories over Rhodes, UMP and DUT in the group stages. They then defeated UNIVEN in the semi-final – and DUT, again, in the final.
The squad also scooped the following individual awards at the event: Team of the Tournament; Player of the Tournament; Goalkeeper of the Tournament; and Coach of the Tournament.
And that coach who inspired Maties’ success was none other than my former Santos teammate Desmond Crowie.
Part of a memorable squad of Santos footballers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Crowie had a dream left foot. Blessed with an intuitive football brain, a glorious passing range, and an eye for goal as well, he was named as the Federation Professional League’s (FPL) Player of the Year in 1988.
Off the field, he was an absolute delight too, with a dry sense of humour that often had us in stitches in the dressing-room, on the flight, or the many hotel rooms frequented during our football travels. He was always, first-and-foremost, a team man – and a crucial cog in the Santos squad that won the FPL treble in 1988.
For those who may not know, Desmond is the younger brother of former Bafana Bafana star and Santos skipper, Duncan Crowie.
But Desmond never, in any way, felt that he was living in the shadow of a famous brother. Instead, he carved his own path and made a huge success of it. For him, having Duncan as a brother, was an inspiration, and he regularly tapped into it to galvanise his efforts in charting his own journey in football – and in life.
“ I was fortunate have to two very good role-models in my older brothers, Nigel and Duncan,” Crowie tells me.
“Duncan’s achievements always set the landmark for me to follow, whether it was football or athletics.
“In athletics, Duncan was the 800m WP record holder. I was the 1500m and 3000m WP record holder. I represented WP in both events at the inter-provincials in PE.
“Duncan’s football accolades speak for itself, but I never put myself under pressure to emulate him. He inspired me… because Duncan is Duncan, and I’m my own person, in my own right. We all have our own paths to follow.”
Crowie was born in Heideveld, and attended Heideveld Primary until 1979, after which the family moved to Strandfontein.
He then completed primary schooling at Strandfontein Primary, matriculated in 1985 at Strandfontein High, and then went on to study teaching at Hewat College. He started at Cedar High School in Mitchells Plain – and, still today, that is the school at which he works.
As for his football career, it all started as a junior at Everton United in Heideveld. Speak to anybody about amateur football in the 80s and they tell you about the great Everton senior sides of the time. And it was those players who inspired the young Crowie to make his way in the game.
He takes up the story:
“I idolised the senior team of Everton, with the likes of Jongbloed in goal, the Phillip brothers at the back, Jooste in midfield, Hartzenberg and Arendse up front, just to mention a few players of that great era. At Everton, as a junior, Norman Phillips was my coach – and, man, what a fantastic person…
“But, because of the move to Strandfontein, I had to change clubs – and I decided to join Strandfontein Utd in 1981. I played from U/14 until U/18 before moving to Parkhurst Utd, to give myself an opportunity to play in the Super League.
“I played two years of senior football for Parkhurst in the old Toyota Super League, before the great Liverpool-Portlands team dethroned us in the annual end-of-season play-off, and would then represent Mitchells Plain in the Super League.
“Playing for the senior Board Team at the time, with players like Ivan Petersen, Robin Delcarme, Brian Medell, Melly Paulse, Igshaan Solomons, Dicky Booysen, just to mention a few, was one of the highlights of my time at Parkhurst.
“Getting into that starting team was very difficult at the time, but perseverance helped me achieve that goal. But, really, looking back…. Board Football in that era was massive…”
And it was Crowie’s performances for the Mitchells Plain Board Team that resulted in then-Santos boss – the late Nazmie Bardien – signing the midfielder to join his brother, Duncan, at the popular FPL club.
Looking back, Crowie has nothing but fond memories of his time at Santos. It developed him as a footballer, it prepared him for life after football, and made him the strong, resolute and determined character he is today.
“It was a fantastic ride playing for Santos, during and after the apartheid years, it’s something I will treasure for the rest of my life,” Crowie says.
“The experiences I gained while travelling, playing, and having such seasoned footballers as my teammates… it sculpted my life forever.
“Funny enough, I used one of the experiences with Santos as an example in my team talk before our USSA final on Friday… when I told the team about how we, at Santos, back then, protected and cared for each other, on-and-off the field.
“I won the FPL’s Player of the Year, and that’s definitely one of my greatest individual highlights as a player. We won the treble that year and Duncan and I scored two goals apiece in the Osman Spice Final against Tongaat Crusaders at a packed Curries Fountain.
“The next four years were incredible… we won more trophies and continued to dominate the league. New players would join Santos, but the one thing that struck me the most was always the camaraderie that prevailed.
“It’s another value I always carry with me, something I learnt all those years ago at Santos… that the WE is always before the I.
“We achieved wonders at Santos, with basically no resources, but the team culture carried us through all the trials and tribulations. I’m very fortunate to have played in an era where family was more important than money. We all had the same goal of being the best that we could be, under very difficult circumstances, during a very difficult period in our country’s history.”
And, because of that difficult period which Crowie alludes to, in a country and a people battling apartheid’s oppressors, it was essential to be principled and steadfast in one’s beliefs. For us, as sportspeople at the time, the organisation we all supported was Sacos [SA Council on Sport] – and Crowie, for one, understood the zeitgeist of the era, and how necessary it was to isolate the oppressor from a sporting point of view.
“Growing up in a sporting family, values will always play a big role,” he says. “During the apartheid era, where Sacos was at the forefront fighting the good fight, on behalf of oppressed sportspeople, my two brothers, Nigel and Duncan, kept the flag flying in our household.
“It’s always good to have role-models and they definitely fit that category. The sacrifice made by great players of time – like Duncan, Keith America and others before and after them – set the standards that we lived by, and followed.
“Nigel was the leader in this regard. That’s why, even until today, we, as a family, will always practise and preach the Sacos motto of ‘no normal sport in an abnormal society’. Although, not always recognised for its contribution, we know the role played by Sacos during those years… and it’s something we are grateful for and will never forget.”
After two knee operations, Crowie moved on to the next stage of his football career – coaching. He started out as player-coach at Strandfontein Utd in 1996, and the club ended that season second on the log behind champions, Milano Utd.
After that, he had head coach or assistant-coach stints at Milano, Mr Price Academy, FC Hotspurs, FC Cape Town and Cape Town All Stars.
He credits former striker Sayed Appels, who he worked under at Milano, as the biggest influence on his coaching career.
“Sayed was one of the coaches who moulded me in terms of the coach I am today. His mannerism, nature, coaching style rubbed off on me in a big way. Still today, I make use of the some of the principles he drilled into me during the early stages of my coaching career.”
In 2016, Crowie was approached by Maties’ club manager, Ellroy Smith, to apply for the newly created position as head coach of the Stellenbosch University football team. He was interviewed in 2017, and started his coaching tenure at the club at the end of March 2017.
With Maties now having won the USSA ‘B’ Section, how significant is this success for Stellenbosch as a university?
“Football is one of the university’s 14 high performance codes. The mandate, since 2017, was to be promoted to the ‘A’ Section – and then, the following year, to end in the Top 8 at USSA, to qualify for Varsity Cup Football.
“There has been investment from the university in terms of academic support, strength and conditioning coaches for each code, gym assistance, and sports psychology support. In fact, football has 20 student-athletes who are on football bursaries.
“With the success of Maties football, we have overtaken student participation in all other sporting codes, even rugby.”
Crowie has been teaching for 34 years and still, as always, is committed to promoting sport at his school. He lives for his family – his wife, Shihaam, as he says, is his “best friend”. He has three children – Sieraaj (38), Nishaad (36), and Zunaid (29), as well a granddaughter, Amaal (2).
Zunaid has been the conditioning coach for AmaZulu’s PSL team for the last five years.
Sieraaj is a marathon runner, having inherited his stamina from his dad’s exceptional long-distance lungs. He has also completed the Comrades Marathon.
Crowie still runs regularly, joining Sieraaj and Daryn (Duncan’s son) for 10km races in the city. He also regularly does the Saturday morning 5km Park Runs with his wife and daughter [which is, coincidentally, where we met up two weeks ago, when I finished the Century City Park Run. Needless to say, he was already done by the time I struggled to the finish…].
So, after last week’s intervarsity success, what’s next?
“I still harbour the ambition of coaching at a higher level,” he says. “I had a season with FC Cape Town and as technical director with Cape Town All Stars in the National First Division. I enjoyed it… and I would love to have another look-in at that level or even higher.
“Also, next year, I want to complete my CAF A Licence.
“As for Maties, I have unfinished business in the ‘A’ Section. I believe Stellenbosch University has the potential to make further history and qualify for Varsity Cup Football in 2025.
“So, I still have a purpose, and that keeps me motivated and goal-orientated.”
Rodney Reiners 