Posted in News on May 15, 2009.
Full speech below...
PLAYERS AWARDS: 14 May 2009
Programme Director,
The Board of Directors,
The Management of Kaizer Chiefs,
Our Esteemed Sponsors and Business Partners,
Representatives of the Supporters Club,
Members of the Media,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
This evening continues our tradition of gathering the Kaizer Chiefs family of players, officials, friends and partners to celebrate a season characterised by drama, excitement, and intrigue.
Apart from being a time for celebration, the Kaizer Chiefs Players Awards ceremony provides an opportunity for reflection and forecasting in our quest to position and sustain our organization as the most respected and successful brand in the history of football in South Africa.
Before we celebrate our football season, I think it is proper to spare a moment to savour our country’s smooth transition into our democratically elected cabinet since the death of colonial and apartheid rule in 1994. May I therefore congratulate President Zuma, all the Ministers, Premiers and their subordinates for embracing the challenges and successes of our country. I join a chorus of all South Africans by placing our hope on their patriotic shoulders to serve with integrity and compassion.
May I also congratulate our country’s efforts of preparing for the incumbent Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I believe our Local Organizing Committee and all its structures are on course to provide the world of football an African experience that would place our country and continent high in the profile of host nations. I similarly wish Bafana Bafana success and hope the players seize such an opportunity to stamp their stature in the international world of football.
I appreciate your presence and hope that you find all our efforts to serve a memorable Kaizer Chiefs Players’ Awards evening, a worthwhile experience.
Football, being our core business demands that we specifically recognize the contribution of the Technical Team and the Players as organs that are in the centre of delivery. Although this is so, we are cognisant of the contribution of other behind-the-scene members of the family whose leadership and talent add to our recipe and crucible of success. Through sacrifice that is often compatible to debilitating suffering of emotional and physical strain, our frontline and rearguard soldiers have again registered our infinite desire to succeed in the exciting world of football.
We are therefore thankful for such sacrifices that have carried a dream whose birth in 1970 was driven by a passionate desire to make a difference in our historically impoverished communities. I am also humbled by the grace of GOD whose unreserved love and direction has guided our plans and effort to sustain our organization.
OUR SEASON AT A GLANCE
Our season has endured its challenges and moments of glory; a typical characteristic of our fraternity for ages. This season like many others saw the parting with and appointment of several key personnel in our Management structures. In addition, we effected internal role changes informed by our strategy to position relevant skill and talent in proper portfolios for more accountability and progress. We are thus grateful to welcome our new members and hope that they enjoy their stay with the family.
We also worked hard to ensure that all our departments were professionally resourced and supported to sustain our organization and equally serve the business and supporter constituencies that identify with our brand. In addition we maintained our commitment to play an active Social Responsibility role through our support of many charitable courses.
In summary, all these efforts and some that I have not mentioned were synchronized to display a spirit of family, growth and competition that made this season yet another successful one.
Whilst I remain thankful for the contribution of all, I believe we shall use this event to evaluate and create a room for improvement as we prepare for the incumbent season.
OUR LEAGUE AND CUP CAMPAIGNS
Just like all other seasons, our league and cup campaigns could not escape their moments of highs and lows. Regrettably, we may be dismissed for having had an unconvincing league campaign judging from our final standing in the log but the truth is we carried ourselves with an equal determination to overcome every obstacle we faced.
Our campaign was adversely affected by our lack of a fixed home ground; a situation that caused us to live a nomadic existence throughout. Having to continuously adjust our logistical plans around travel and training we often suffered the indignities of facing some teams with a fatigued or an occasionally agitated mind.
Apart from our challenges on the playing field, we also suffered a series of injustices from some officials; a concern we later raised in the public forum. Many times we endured a lot of media distortions that birthed consternation in our organization, but by grace we overcame to regain our focus of playing a sport we dearly love.
Starting from our preseason preparations against formidable opposition like Manchester United and Orlando Pirates in the Vodacom Challenge, it became clearer our intention to account for our presence in top flight football. Admittedly, we have endured our bouts of Technical glitches perhaps the reason for scouring the talent market for a Head Coach today. Media reports would show that we often entered into unfortunate public spats over differences on technical matters; an episode that I surely would want to bury as we face the future.
We also endured the departure of some key players often under unsavoury circumstances. These were fairly regrettable but a challenge to resolve. Despite these, we attracted more talent and registered youthful players from our development ranks. I am proud that our national selectors have visited our camp for the services of some key players that would carry our flag in the incumbent Confederations Cup and possibly the FIFA 2010 World Cup. I am also proud that our players from the Youth Development Programme have been featured in various International Tournament.
Through our persistent spirit for success, we managed to lift the MTN 8 Cup and came close to snatching the league. The loss of the Telkom Cup and our uncharacteristic exit from the Nedbank Cup would obviously remain a sore thumb.
All these and many other factors should be considered as hallmark signs that make true warriors who fight to salvage the Kaizer Chiefs pride and dignity. In the words of the famous Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a member of the NBA Hall of Fame in the US; “Great athletes are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group”, our team stood headstrong to espouse a spirit of unity and singleness of sporting purpose. They continued to gallantly represent the Kaizer Chiefs brand despite frequent episodes of discouragement and discontent.
I believe however that we have learnt some valuable lessons to sharpen our hunger for glory in the new season.
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
In a true spirit of forgetting the past by applying lessons gathered, our Management machinery is hard at work to lay the ground and refuel our vessel as the 2009/10 football season beckons.
In doing so, we are cognisant of the 39 Years of our existence and in preparing for our 40th year we have considered a strategic and carefully planned process to transform our team, our management systems and our supporters’ structures.
In a series of workshops and dialogues, we identified key areas that require immediate attention. Chief amongst these is to address the Technical Team and to beef various departments on the playing field. I mentioned the urgency we require to build our defence department in previous permutations I expressed, but we noticed that it was important to review the team holistically.
The results of this intervention would surely be tested in our pre-season programme whose highlight is our participation in the Vodacom Challenge. Facing Manchester City and Orlando Pirates in this tournament provides a perfect opportunity for sharpening our team so that we tackle the first round of the incumbent season with a determination to restore our glory.
I am particularly excited by our match against Manchester City a team I played against in my first match for Atlanta Chiefs as a South African export on US soil in 1968. Our clash would therefore evoke memories of scoring in both our encounters during Manchester City’s visit to celebrate their annexure of the FA English Championship Cup back in England. I hope our lads would carry the baton to confirm that Kaizer Chiefs is rated amongst the best team in the world.
In the course of preparing for the incumbent season, we shall soon make the necessary announcements around the changes in our team. Perhaps we could pick some lesson from the recent presidential election in the US when Barack Obama ascended the seat as the first black State President of the US. For us at Kaizer Chiefs we have seen such changes as progressive throughout our evolution as such we may never be intimidated.
LET US THEREFORE CELEBRATE
Let us therefore celebrate all the above achievements and challenges that we are pursuing with a sole purpose of strengthening our organization.
To players that may or may not lift any award this evening, I wish to challenge you to work hard to put Kaizer Chiefs in the nerve centre of domination of both the league and cup championships in the coming season. I wish to emphasise that the Kaizer Chiefs jersey has proven to be naturally immersed with pressure for success and any player that had donned and expressed the wish, has had to be of a determined and tenacious make-up to achieve.
I am therefore thankful to the Technical Team, the Players and Support Staff for their passion that has kept our fires burning. I understand the intensity of the pressure of their work but also acknowledge that the measure of our success is best displayed in our core business; the playing of football. May I also thank those responsible for nurturing and guiding the talent at our Youth Development Programme. Theirs is a contribution that lays the foundation for continuity and strengthening of our senior team.
I am also thankful for the insightful manner in which the Kaizer Chiefs Board of Directors (BOD) and Management have applied themselves to effectively run the affairs of our business. I am grateful that we all contribute our knowledge and skill towards a common goal that sets Kaizer Chiefs far apart from its competitors.
I am thankful also for the generosity of our Sponsors and Business Partners for the manner in which our relationship has mellowed to lift us high in our business. I am thankful that our sponsors, Vodacom, Standard Bank, NIKE, Nissan and Hollard Insurance have once more contributed towards the success of this event. Despite the global financial recession, these friends have indeed remained pillars of our strength to sustain our business and for that we are truly grateful.
May I also thank our generous supporters that sacrifice their meagre resources to spur our team by showing in our matches. We are committed to sustain the family and hope to yet see them in the incumbent season.
I thank the entire Staff and Administrators at the Naturena Village for their continued support of the team. Together we stand as one to become a big successful and happy family of achievers.
May I thank J.A.K.E. Production for organizing such a successful event and many others that characterised the glory of our brand throughout the season.
May we enjoy this evening with eyes that are not preoccupied by temporal obstacles but with those that piercingly foresees beyond horizons of our immediate challenges and successes. I challenge everyone gathered this evening to develop a mentality that does not judge Kaizer Chiefs through the ninety minute on the field of play, but to consider our brand as an entity that impacts our lives.
I subscribe to the ideals of TEAM WORK to sustain our slogan of Love and Peace!
I thank you
Kaizer Motaung
Chairman/Managing Director
