Barely a week after Juventus Thobela FC's ambitious player, Mulisa Liberty Tshidino, bagged five awards during the team's end-of-year prize-giving ceremony, local and regional football development structures came knocking on the young football star's door.
The lanky midfielder was named Player of the Season, Most Disciplined and Committed Player, Top Goal Scorer of the Season, Defender of the Season, and received the Chairman's Award.
But in spite of Tshidino's growing popularity, the team's founder and director, Mr Thulani Nicholas Malusese, better known in football circles as Dolezar, said he was not ready to part with any of the team's players yet. He said that two months ago, three of their young players had disappeared for three days, only for them to discover that the boys were secretly doing trials for another football academy in Thohoyandou.
"Tshidino is not for sale and he is going nowhere. I started working with these boys when they were still very young, and now that they are starting to show their potential, people want them. None of my boys will be allowed to leave now. Let the boys write their exams in peace without any disturbance. They are still under age. Anyone who needs their services must talk to their parents first before approaching the team," he said.
"Remember, even if we are not allowed to sell teenagers in the football fraternity, we have to be compensated for our time and all the experience the boys got from us. You cannot just sit in the corner and wait for us to train them, and then take them away," he said.