Cape Town – Driven by his daughter’s need for a football coach, one father was roped back into coaching after initially taking charge of his son’s team.
Harold Johnson, a senior IT recruitment consultant, had hoped to take a break from coaching after his son switched clubs from one in Wynberg to Tramway in Southfield.
But he was drawn back in after his wife noticed his skills were needed once more. “My wife was the one who got me involved. When my wife speaks, I listen,” Johnson said.
“My son started playing when he was 5 at a club in Wynberg and wanted to change so we ended up at Tramway.
“My wife used to take my son to practice and sent pictures of my daughter playing while they were practising.
“One morning in Fish Hoek there were roughly four or five girls between the ages of 5 and 9 at the field. They were sisters of the brothers who were playing. We decided we were going to have a girls versus boys match, and that’s how it all started.
“We started with five girls in July last year but had 18 on our books from the end of last season.”
Johnson said that while it was an easy decision for him to coach the girls team because he had coached his son, it was still an eye-opening experience. “I’ve never coached girls before, but you learn so much from them – what you can or can’t say.
“The education front is not just about football but also outside of football.”
He can be contacted on 071 852 0885.