Safa Cape Town’s glitz and glamour at its annual senior awards presentation, unfortunately, did not do justice to some of the individual accolades.
Saturday’s event in the Mayoral Banquet Hall at the Civic Centre was about the top achievers for the 2023 amateur season.
The biggest farce of the evening was probably when the award for coach of the year was handed to Crystal Palace’s Goodwin Lewis – and that of Diadora FC not getting any nomination or recognition at all despite their historical treble.
It cannot be argued that Lewis is an outstanding coach and in previous years would probably have walked away with this award without any eyebrows being lifted.
Those who were observant enough would have noticed that Lewis himself was rather surprised when he was announced as the winner.
Let me say again: Lewis is a top-quality coach and his track record speaks for itself after he won promotion with Palace back to the Third Division in 2022 as well as a decent run with Safa Cape Town’s Academy team at the Bayhill Cup.
But the past season one coach stood out way above everybody else: Diadora FC’s mentor Shakes Mangaliso should have won it hands down.
What more should he have done after leading his side to the League title at the Athlone LFA, defending their Coke Cup trophy successfully and winning promotion to the Third Division – all in one season.
The fact that Mangaliso wasn’t even on the nomination list is a travesty of justice – and Lewis would probably agree.
One can only imagine how betrayed or even “robbed” Mangaliso felt when the (nominee) announcements were made. Needless to say, one would not blame him if he left the function with a bitter taste in his mouth.
Especially given that his counterpart from Goulburn Athletic Sardick Barends – who was the runner-up in the Coke Cup – was nominated along with Junction Rovers’ coach Chrissando De Weber for the coach of the year.
The latter’s nomination is certainly well deserved and justified after winning promotion to the ABC Motsepe League.
This raises another question…should the Third Division nominee list and awards not have been separated from the one in the LFA structures as it runs as two different entities? Would this formula not have ensured more fairness and the worthy winners felt more justified?
In my view, Safa CT dropped the ball on this one. An offside decision that even the most biased VAR official would not have been able to ignore. Therefore, they should go back to the drawing board and revisit the criteria for the awards.
Also, the region’s Head of Departments should play a more active role during their search for these candidates in various categories. Handpick them as the season progresses and do not ask the LFA’s to forward a list of candidates for nomination.
There should be serious efforts made in the future to rectify these shambles and to get it right – otherwise, mediocrity will just reign supreme!
