Mamelodi Sundowns legend Isaac Shai re-calls how he and fellow youth coaches at the club aided in the development of players, who went on to become household names in the country's football, such as Percy Tau and others.
Following his retirement as a professional footballer in the mid-2000s, Shai worked in the development at the Chloorkop outfit for almost two decades as a coach.
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The ex-defender had played only for the Brazilians in his entire career which started in 1992, and he knows all about the club and the requirements of being a footballer there.
Shai coached the U15 team at Downs and several players went through him before proceeding to other age groups until graduating to the first team.
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"Yes, I did work with him (Tau) in the academy at Sundowns but it wasn't for too long as he quickly graduated to the U19 team. The system of youth development at Sundowns worked in a way that when we saw potential in a player, we didn't delay him in his progress. We made sure that we promoted the players to fast track their progress," said Shai, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.
"Players like Keletso Makgalwa, Percy Tau, Cassius Mailula, Fire's (Joel Masilela) son (Thamsanqa Masiya), my son (Siyabulela Shai), Siyanda Msani, Siphesihle Mkhize and many others were part of the system," Shai said.
