He’d like to play for Manchester United, should he make it as a professional player. In the meantime, Pule Konopi continues practising diligently, building on his reputation as the keeper who helped the Jet Nteo High School team take the top spot in Msanzi’s largest high school soccer tournament, the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Cup, in 2010.
Konopi, or Spila as his teammates affectionately call him, started playing soccer with the neighbourhood kids at the age of 11. Positions weren’t cut and dried but he played mostly as defender until one day no keeper was available for an important street game and he was asked to do the honours.
“I was asked to stand in for the keeper as I was taller than everyone in the team,” the 18-year-old recalls. “That was the birth of my position and serious soccer playing. As I went to a public primary school that didn’t offer other sports, I stuck to soccer throughout the years.”
His height, he believes, continues to be an advantage on the pitch but it’s rather his skills in the box that have ultimately led to his inclusion in the Jet Nteo High squad. Under his captaincy, the team steamrolled over Harmony High School - three times winners of this tournament - 2 -0 in the final of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Cup held at the Matlosana Stadium on September 29. Konopi’s team hardly ever looked liked conceding a goal and scored their first in the 15th minute of the first half. Not only did Jet Nteo end up walking off with the R1million prize money, but Konopi was also named Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.
“From the Sanlam Kay Motsepe tournament I learnt that anything is possible,” he comments. “No one knew where Jet Nteo High School was but we are now on the map.”
Konopi also plays for his township’s amateur club called The Birds FC (SAB League) in Boipatong, in the Vaal Triangle. One of the most memorable moments so far in his life was meeting the team from Brazil during the 2010 FIFA World Cup: “We [The Birds] played against Brazil in one of their warm up games - that I will never forget, meeting players like Kaka, Robinho and Dunga was just a dream came true. I also met Luis Figo who was there to watch the game.”
Though he dreams of following in the footsteps of the Brazilian big names, Konopi realises that a career in football is not guaranteed. “If I don’t make it that far, I plan to enrol for a degree in sports management at the University of Pretoria,” he says.
His other major dream is to one day own a business that can motivate young people to fight for their dreams and that will contribute to the development of his beloved township
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