Vasco da Gama head coach Elton Swartz says the “magic of teamwork” was on display and the catalyst for them winning promotion to Safa Cape Town Third Division recently.
Those present at the playoffs in Nyanga, as well as during the group phases, can testify how dominant the Cape Town Tygerberg champion was. At times, Vasco made it look so easy.
The club’s two sternest tests were probably the quarterfinal and semi-final ties against FC Tafelzught and Hazendal United, respectively. But it was nothing they couldn’t handle as the team from Parow Park came out tops, along with the impressive Everton United led by coach Gwappie Esau.
Swartz explained to No Bones with Jones: “I’d say the magic of teamwork was key, you know. Each member of our technical team knows exactly what their roles are. “So, we trust one another and the players can see and it rubs off on them. This also makes them at ease and it allows them to only focus on games – and that makes a big difference,” he added.
Swartz is surely following in the footsteps of Andrew Pequeno, his senior, who is the head coach of the ABC Motsepe League side that achieved this feat only a couple of seasons ago. Not to mention his Coke Cup title last season. All this is definitely an indication of the club’s growth and upward trajectory since it acquired Third Division status from Bellstar United in 2020. It is really phenomenal what Vasco achieved in such a short space of time.
Let’s not forget the historical treble from the Ladies’ side before it was sadly sold off to the highest bidder, which was TS Galaxy.
Be that as it may, the club maintained its hunger for success. Coupled with that, they have now also created another avenue for young talent to realize their dreams. So doing, they also will not lose their talent to other clubs.
“The aim is to use the Third Division side to develop players for our ABC Motsepe side,” Swartz pointed out. The local Tygerberg League is one of the best and is a great space for development.
“If you want to mimic summer football, you need to be in summer football. This will speed up the development process for the young players,” he further added.
Without putting a premature curse on Swartz and his formidable outfit, they are definitely potential candidates to conquer the Graveyard league, as the Third division is known, as they are that good.
This in turn could conjure up a situation where they could even win promotion to the Second Division, where they already have a team competing – then what?
“Then we cross the bridge when we get there, but for now we have a plan and we stick to the plan,” Swartz maintained. “It’s very dangerous to suddenly want to be greater than the plan. You will at the end of the day sit with nothing if you want to be selfish and take everything,” the Vasco-mentor concluded.
