The South African Football Players Union vice president Teboho Monyai turned out for clubs like the University of Pretoria, Mpumalanga Black Aces and Moroka Swallows. Given his rich history in football and education 'Tebza' speaks to the Siya crew about the downfalls faced by professional players.
Why most players go broke within a year after playing?
Look, I think it's a song for every year. The problem is clear, like everyone knows the problem, but it still continues and more importantly about the issue of lifestyle, you know what I mean? And the issue of lifestyle goes to the issue of the background, whether educationally, whether it be the family background, whether be friends, the type of friends that you choose. It's something that is really, really, really disturbing and very difficult. I've never heard of a footballer who has lost his money where it was published that this one became broke because he has lost his money trying to establish a business. Every time a footballer has lost money because he was flashing out on a lifestyle, buying expensive cars, going to a club, buying champagne, having a lavish lifestyle in terms of entertainment, but I would say, 'Look, if you were to take, for example, a player who has a good educational background like myself, let's talk about myself'. Before I turned professional, I had a national diploma in marketing. That time I was playing in the National First Division. Then when I moved to the PSL, I did a degree in marketing, then I also had a qualification in business management and sports law. Now, if you were to look at me now where I am and where I was at that time, in fact, the lifestyle has improved now compared to when I was still playing. So I'm trying to say the thinking part is something else because the player who's got an educational background can plan and think better than the player who does not have any education background.
Not everyone that has an educational background will guarantee that you will do better, but not everyone who does not have schooling cannot do well. There are other players who have done well even though they don't have a good educational background. But now you go back and say, you check in their family background where do they come from, so that factor also kicks in to say you might find that this one is like this because he comes from a family of a business background, even though he did not go to school, but he understand business, he understands investing, he understands certain ways of looking after money.
I'll give you a current player who is still playing now. Grant Kekana for example. I've spent a lot of time with that youngster because he used to play for Tuks before they sold him to SuperSport and he's at Sundowns now. His mother, she's in business, she's a corporate, she's a politician. Pinky Kekana, whose a member of parliament. If you look at his lifestyle, it's more different to a normal footballer who has no background of a good family structure because the mother knows what is happening in the picture, he invests more in business and trying to groom the young man while he's still playing. And you never see that young man in the papers for wrong reasons, or him spending his money wrongly, recklessly. No, no, I know him better. So, I'm just giving a practical example of a family background, he does not have a degree, but he lives like he is someone with a degree, someone who's highly educated, and he plans better. So, that plays a key role from where I'm sitting, I must say.
Are clubs doing enough to help these players?
No, clubs are not doing enough to make sure that these players are guided well. Remember clubs are sort of a business. They are running a business that they are concerned about maximizing the profit and minimizing the cost as well. So, they don't want to be seen spending extra amounts of money on top of what they are doing in paying these players salaries. Once they move to involve other services such as financial advisors and this and this, the people coming to creating programs to educate these boys, that is going to cost a club an extra amount of money. So, so, so clubs don't want to engage more on that particular aspect. For me, I would love to see a situation whereby clubs are doing programs that assist these boys on a daily basis, on a monthly basis about investment, about money usage, about business, about other things. And similarly, when the clubs are doing this, the league itself needs to bring programs. The South African Football Players Union also brings similar programs so that these things can run parallel, when a player turns left, he meets the same program, turns right, he meets the same, when he goes backwards he meets the same program. So this will become what we call daily financial coaching rather than financial coaching, we need to introduce a lifetime financial coaching while these players are still playing. Similarly to a training program in a team whereby players goes to training every day five times a week to cross the ball accurately. So for eight months the very same player goes to an official match and can't cross the ball properly, but he's training how to cross the ball from Monday to Friday. Come Saturday, he can't cross it. How about when you teach these players on financial investment and savings once in six months? Do you think that they will become more effective in terms of saving, no? But if you are to simulate the training program in terms of the life financial coaching then they will get used to it. If those type of products can be run concurrently with everyone else who is a stakeholder in football, clubs included, but clubs need to do more, the league needs to do more, the Union needs to do more.
Is there enough positive influence from some of the senior players onto the youngsters or does peer pressure come from teammates in so much that these boys eventually fall into the lifestyle?
The influence or the discussion amongst players is about who drives the best car, who dresses the best, who bought the best and most expensive sneaker, who's got the most beautiful girlfriend, who spends the most money in the club, who can attract the most beautiful girls, and the most, who can host the best parties. I can tell you now footballers never discuss or compete amongst each other about investment, who has a business way, who's doing what in terms of investment, who has how much money in the investment account? They don't even touch that, it's like a taboo to them. That language is like a taboo to them.
The time I was still a captain of AmaTuks in the PSL, we signed Lennox Bacela from Orlando Pirates. One day in a dressing room our top goal scorer of the tournament from the MDC side walked in the dressing room in the morning when we were about to train wearing a sneaker of R4500, Timberland. I then stopped him and said, 'Stand there, guys how much is this shoe?' Thabo Mnyamane and Grant Kekana and them said, 'Old man, this shoe is about R4500 at the shop'. I said, 'I know how much you're getting paid R10,000. How do you take almost 70% of your salary and spend it on a single sneaker? You're not going to train today. I will tell the coaches you are not training and I'm sending you back home. Take those shoes back to the shop, they must refund you'. But listen what happened in my statement, Lennox Bacela came out and said, 'No Tebza no leave the boys to enjoy their money, they are still young. It's their money, they must enjoy it.' What type of an advice from a senior player is that to a young man? And so, I'm saying, sometimes some senior players have a negative influence towards the youngsters to become worse off in instead of well off because of the pressure that they get from their age group.
