Hard work leads to success

Letsoko stops a shot from one of his players.

 Lebohang Pita

@LeboPita

Humble, god-fearing and passionate about sport. Romeo Letsoko does not lead a dull life. This active 27-year old is not only a development co-ordinator of Mamelodi Sundowns football club but is a talent scout for various football teams in Soshanguve. He is the marketing manager of the Soshanguve District Football Association.

Letsoko has a vast knowledge of sport. He said his passion for the game attributed to the kind of person he is today.

He is currently the co-ordinator of the three Sundowns satellites development teams.

An introvert by nature, Letsoko said his humility and the spirit of ubuntu had given him the ability to excel at sport.

He said his high work ethic attributed to his success.

“I am a person who likes to share. Teamwork and sharing are the key elements of the sport,” he said.

He served on the local organising committees of cluster, regional, provincial and national youth games. Letsoko was also on the committee that organised the winter school Olympic Games in June in Pretoria.

He said it felt good giving back to the people who moulded him into a community hero.

“I feel I should do more. It says I am not doing enough. We did not have the opportunities that today’s children have. We need to give them every little thing they need to prosper,” Letsoko said.

As an 18 year old, he worked as an administrator for the South Africa under-12 national team in 2002.

He travelled with the team to France to play in the 2002 Danone Nations Cup.

 He said:”It was a frightening experience. For an 18 year-old boy from a township who had never flown before, it was overwhelming.”

A prolific striker in his heyday, Letsoko said he stopped playing football to follow his calling.

“We cannot all be players. We need the Irvin Khozas and Danny Jordaans of this world to administer football. I took an interest in administering sport,” he said.

He said the mandate of the Sundowns satellite schools was to develop young players from Pretoria who would automatically play for Sundowns. As a co-ordinator, his tasks are to ensure that all satellites schools are fully equipped.

Letsoko said he was already seeing crumbs of success as they have developed a group of young, talented and committed players.

He says he enjoys giving back to the community.

 “If you check the current starting eleven of Sundowns, there are few players from Pretoria. The team is looking for players that would play with pride. The programme is already successful because we have committed teams,” said Letsoko.

Most young people in Pretoria have resorted to smoking nyaope because they have little to do. Letsoko said their aim was to remove the children from the streets and let them participate in sport.

“If you play sport your mind would not be idle. You would always have something to do. Where would these boys be if they were not here? The little that we are doing would make a difference,” he said.

Letsoko is the producer of the legends show on Soshanguve FM. In September he was approached by Kaya FM to host a sport show that would focus on the development of sport.