The road less travelled
Promising teenage playmaker Shaun Morgan has taken a path very rarely travelled after signing for Stellenbosch FC in January without ever previously playing for a club.
The talent of the 18-year-old was spotted by former SuperSport United and Bafana Bafana defender Ricardo Katza, and after trials at Matsatsantsa, where logistics scuppered a move, he has been snapped up by ambitious Stellenbosch FC.
His story is an inspiring one, but also speaks to the dearth of football development in the country where so much potential talent slips through the net.
Had Morgan not been spotted by the expert eye of Katza at his school in Bloemfontein, it is likely he would never have made it to a professional club and his life would be very different.
It is a sad reality that for every ‘Shaun Morgan’ that is signed, there are probably 100 other players across the country in mostly rural areas who never get the chance to fulfil their potential because there is simply noone looking for them.
It robs the national teams at all levels of a larger pool of talent to select from.
Katza was previously head of football at Grey College in Bloemfontein and saw Morgan play
