Celebrated coach Pitso Mosimane's leap of faith to spread his wings into North Africa has opened doors in the industry, as agent Sipho Shaven speaks about his appointment as the Sporting Director at Township Rollers.
This, after Mosimane challenged SA football professionals to have a continental mentality, rather than always staying in a comfort zone, with his unprecedented move to Egypt in 2020.
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There has been a change of perspective and openness to venture into projects in the continent, with the likes of Rulani Mokwena recently moving to Morocco, joining countrymen such as Fadlu Davids and a host of technical compatriots, who were in Morocco and moved to Tanzania.
Joining other SA administrators like Senzo Mbatha, ex-CEO of Botswana Football Association, who has spent the better part of his administrative career largely in other parts of the continent since leaving the likes of Orlando Pirates and Platinum Stars and Jwaneng Galaxy coach Morena Ramoreboli on projects in Africa is Shaven.
He has been appointed Sporting Director at Township Rollers.
KickOff caught up with him, in an exclusive interview, to find out more on his new role in Botswana.
"My role is about, among others, scouting, contract negotiations, liaising with technical team, coordinating all sporting divisions of the club from senior team, ladies team and academy levels. Making sure the culture of the club in terms of recruitment is maintained in all divisions. I still have a lot to learn because I have a very supportive structure, among which I can mention the support I'm getting from the club's CEO Mrs Snenhlanhla Ngobese and the club President Mr Tendani Sebata, and also the technical director Mr Jacob Sakala," says Shaven.
"I was working with them [Township Rollers], bringing them the likes of Thabo Rakhale, if you can remember. As an agent, you work as a business facilitator. I can bring sponsorship to the club, investors etc, so that's the role I'm qualified to cover as well. The new investor came in and asked me to assist.
"I had an offer in South Korea, which was financially better, but it has been my dream to give back in Africa firstly. Look at coach Pitso [Mosimane], where he started. He stayed at [Mamelodi] Sundowns and we even said he overstayed, but he was building something.
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"He went to Egypt and that moved opened many doors. Botswana is not a small country, it's a small country by size, but it has a lot of room to develop in football. We can't compare [it] with PSL, but it's getting there. It's the second-best league in the SADC region after PSL," he continued.
"Financially, it is coming. They just landed a sponsorship with FNB. A lot of things are changing."