Youngsters go through their paces during a training session at Langa Cricket Club.
The iconic Langa Cricket Club is resurgent, determined to restore the club to former glory, while unearthing the talent for which the club is renowned.
Established in 1976, Langa CC’s history extends beyond those early days.
More senior cricket-lovers will recall the John Passmore Week, which was an under-19 tournament hosted by this historic community cricket club. The club’s own history harks back to the Eastern Cape where the Xhosa community had been playing the sport since the early 20th Century.
Recognised as breading ground for some of the Western Cape’s outstanding black cricket talent, Langa has produced players such as current Protea Temba Bavuma, Thami Tsolekile, Nono Pongolo and Malusi Siboto and is positioned to continue the role as a cradle of the regions young cricket talent through a dispensation by Cricket South Africa.
Under the leadership of chairperson Tali Molefe, the club is determined to fully use a dispensation allowing them senior club status for the next year.
Molefe, having never played the sport, is undaunted by the challenges she faces and is determined to return Langa Cricket Club to their former glory. She and her committee have already structured an administratively sound club and have involved the community in their vision. With the back office in good and strong working order, Molefe has now turned her focus to the place where success truly counts and the only measurement of success, the pitch.
With club cricket icon Roger Moult, himself a member of Langa CC, involved in an advisory capacity, Molefe and her team have set up playing structures guaranteed to pay dividends in the short term.
A hub programme identifies talent at schools and feeds them through to the club system for further development. They have established an under-11, under-17 and under-19 section. A women’s section has also been mooted.
“The club is also the custodian of the Hub Programme which consist of four full-time youth coaches to ensure that the club is producing quality youth coaches”, says Molefe.
“We are eagerly seeking player development and growth with a key focus on the future of the club.”
In electing their very first female chairperson, the club and its community has tasked Molefe with leading them into a more competitive culture both at administration level and player development.
Her appreciation of organisational management and sports player brand development, having a team that knows cricket and business management has proven beneficial to the re-branding of Langa CC.
Cricket director, Anam Mde, an accomplished Premier League batsman, is a level 2 coach and a former captain of Langa Cricket Club.
With the senior section compromising of two teams, the playing complement should be adequately met but with the “no-relegation” dispensation only in effect for the current season, quality in depth is required.
Team captain Phindile Tsolekile (WP Academy) has been joined by Simphiwe Yiba (former WP seamer), Thokozani Peter and Wonder Mtolo (previously from the Dolphins).
The 2021-2022 season objective is win a minimum of two games this season with a mid-table spot in ’22-23 and a Top Four position the year after that.
League honours in 2025 is their stated goal, by no means a pipedream considering the determination, clear leadership on and off the pitch and feeder programme in pace.
Funding for such a programme is always a challenge and the sponsorship poll gets shallower with each challenge facing society in modern times, yet truly deserving causes are sometimes hard to pass up and Langa CC, with their clear goals, determined leadership and massive talent potential is definitely an opportunity potential sponsors should not pass.
Potential sponsors interested in developing young talent through Langa Cricket Club are invited to contact Molefe on 081 563 5932.