Ndumiso Gumede
Bukhosi Mangena, Sports Correspondent
HIGHLANDERS’ chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede has said the club will conduct a player orientation seminar in Matopo in mid-March soon after registering their final squad for the 2016 season with the Premier Soccer League.
He said the workshop’s objective is to educate players about Highlanders’ winning culture and pride that is associated with donning the black-and-white jersey after realising that the present crop had lost touch with the club’s expectations.
Bosso has seen a rise in indiscipline partly as a result of buying players from other clubs compared to yesteryear when they groomed players from the junior ranks with the club’s philosophy ingrained in them.
“We will embark on an initiation and player orientation in March once we’ve announced our team to educate the players, especially new ones, if there’ll be any, about what’s expected of them and how they ought to conduct themselves once they get that black-and-white jersey,” said Gumede.
“Highlanders is a big traditional institution and there are certain guidelines that a player needs to be aware of, especially the winning mentality, because once you have that, we’ll win games, which will in turn attract huge crowds that will translate into sponsorship because crowds are the ones that attract sponsors,” he said.
The veteran administrator said it was vital to impress upon the present generation of players to value discipline as it was central for the growth of their careers.
“We’ll also touch on the issue of discipline because that’s where young players are missing it nowadays. As a player, once you turn professional, we don’t expect you to require another professional to tell you that alcohol is bad for you and that you mustn’t miss training, and that you must make exercising your number one priority.”