The Live Limitless Youth Internship Program is the club's way "to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young people," as they will be providing a five-month internship programme in the following five disciplines: Tik Tok Content Creator, Photography, Production Video Editor, Journalist/Writer and Marketing Activation – Supporter Mobilization. Application are already open on the club's official website and this is an opportunity that our youth and future employees should be taking full advantage of. It is not every day that a professional football club opens up their doors for such opportunities and the Chloorkop-based outfit needs to be commended for continuously pushing the envelope and leading the way in empowering our people with such a wonderful initiative, especially considering the economic climate, the high unemployment rate among the youth as well as the impact COVID-19 has had in every sphere of our lives. This is a massive opportunity and when you look at the number of unemployed graduates, it is scary and could easily tempt some to declare education as unfashionable and a waste of time as you spend so much money acquiring the skills, only to remain unemployed. With initiatives like these, coming from a football club nogal, it goes without saying that this couldn't have come at a better time for our youth, especially with it being Youth Month in the South African calendar.
This is a first-of-its-kind initiative because these in-service training opportunities are usually created by media houses, so for a club like Sundowns to throw their weight behind creating employment opportunities like these is something phenomenal. This is like a simple declaration to say, "South African youth, we understand your frustrations and are doing our part to make sure that we impact your future in a positive way, despite all the challenges our country faces. Please come here for your training and possibly get absorbed into our structures permanently after spending five months with us. We want to empower our youth, create job opportunities and make sure that they have their futures secured." This is something to make noise about because we need to see more of it. These are much-needed initiatives for our youth so that they get empowered and removed from the streets where they are loitering because of lack of employment, opportunities and resources. These are our future leaders and they just can't be left uncared for or unempowered because if we don't empower the youth, we are like conceding a winning own goal in a World Cup final because it is going to come back to haunt us. If we don't look after our youth, then we can forget about having a bright future.
It is encouraging to see efforts to empower the youth because this country, from all angles, needs to change the way they treat the youth. We need a change of approach so that fresh ideas can be allowed space. We need more youth and energy to keep up with the modern trends even in leadership positions instead of recycling old heads that are soon to be wheel-chaired around the office because they are clinging to power like their lives depend on it. A new and innovative approach is long overdue, but it starts with providing opportunities to the youth so that they can also become empowered and make better choices. It is through empowered minds that our youth can focus their energies on more meaningful activities and impact our societies positively. These are the people that should be responsible for bringing positive change in people's lives, but to do that, they need opportunities and to be allowed to operate freely. By opening their doors to the youth, Sundowns are not just going to change the lives of the successful applicants, they will be investing in their future in order to change their families' and even communities' lives after the successful completion of their internship and securing employment. Surely, first preference will be given to these interns, should an opportunity arise to absorb them into the team. This then means that the successful applicants have a responsibility to ensure that Sundowns don't regret taking this initiative. They have to make sure that they give Sundowns a reason to open up even more, maybe take an even bigger number and more portfolios in future.
In this day and age, thanks to the poor economic climate, COVID-19 and everything else – for a better part – it has been every man for himself. Sundowns were under no obligation to create such opportunities, but because they understand their commitment and responsibility to the communities and the country at large, they made it their mission to make things happen. In the back of their mind, they know they will be changing lives, looking after the wellbeing of their supporters and those in South African football at large through this initiative. Here's to hoping that other teams and everyone with a capacity to lend a helping hand will do so in order to ensure that we have a bright future and our youth is in good hands. To the successful applicants, when you get to Sundowns, the fact that you will be rubbing shoulders with some of the best players around should never become a distraction but rather a motivation, so that you don't get lost in the excitement of being in a professional football set-up. Stay hungry and dedicated to improving your craft so that you become better at whatever career path you will be trained in. This is a big opportunity that should never be underestimated and go out there and make the most of this chance so that, as mentioned earlier, Sundowns don't regret opening their doors to our future leaders. These opportunities don't come every day. May Sundowns continue to lead the way. May they continue to share what they have with the less fortunate, may they continue to empower our youth through such initiatives so that they can, in turn, improve their lives and those who are close to them. These are the people that need to be empowered so that they can become the shining light in their families and communities. When see yourselves beyond just being a football club, you start your footprint in uplifting communities and empowering the youth, making a difference like any institution should do. It is when we encourage such mindset that our country can improve and our people become better human beings. Better huma beings, better communities and ultimately a better country don't fall from the sky, it takes creating initiatives like Live Limitless that seek to empower the youth and if we help one person at a time, that person will do the same to the next person and, before you know it, we all help one another and become better in whatever we are doing.
VeeJay
