Mavericks.

Mavericks Football Family

 

Back in 2008 I got invited to play social soccer with a bunch of mates one evening and we continued this trend for weeks on end. Gradually I invited a few friends of my own and weekly soccer games started growing in numbers. What started as a social soccer scene has expanded into 2 action soccer league teams.

The guys that had originally asked me to play had to briefly stop during mid year exams, so I took the initiative to get a whole bunch of my own friends to fill the weekly spot.

This bowled over into those mates bringing friends of their own. Some nights we ended up with 4 teams!

Theesan and I had always talked about joining the league but no one else was as keen. So it was an idea that remained in the back of our minds for months. We asked every one of the guys who came to play if they would play in league side with us and not one was to be found!

One day during socials I suffered a partial tear on my Achilles tendon, pain like I have never felt in my life.

-Who was it that drove my car home? Byron? I can’t remember.-

 But I remember him and Thees carrying me up to my apartment and leaving me on the living room floor. Shot.

I would be out of action for the next 6 weeks. When the guys played I still went to watch, cos there was always late night food and drinks missions after the game.

After about 2 weeks I got sick of watching them play so I enquired about the league, got the forms, filled them out, Thees and I settled on a team name and we sent the forms in.

We only had 2 players on our team of 6 =D

So we asked Malcolm and he said yes, work schedule pending, and he brought Chrissy with him. Byron was keen cos he’s white and fearless. 

(Our current kit has the words I.M.O Byron G emblazoned on the front, this serves as a reminder of the brother we lost. Your memory lives on through us).  

We convinced Nishalin and Prinolan not to be pansies and Shaun was ready to rumble as always. 

So we eventually got a team together and proceeded to play in our 1^st season at the bottom of 2^nd division. We were clearly inexperienced and unfamiliar with the rules but never gave up! It was a tough season!

We ended the season by going to the final of the knockout round, winning the gold medal and achieving promotion to the 1^st division.

We went to the final of the 1^st division, finished 2^nd and got promoted to the Premier division!

In our 1^st season in premier league we were getting hammered all season but managed to make the knockout rounds where… you guessed it, we made it to the final and lost by a narrow margin to take silver. We continued to play a 4^th season and finished 2^nd again.

Now in the 5^th season and still in the premier league, Mavericks have made it to a 5^th successive final… this coming Friday….

During our 3rd season we formed a 2^nd side and entered into the league, these were from our same group of mates that played every week with us.

Beach days with the Mavericks!

They chose to call themselves ‘Junior Mavericks’ but later changed their name to ‘Mavericks B’. When choosing people to play for our teams we only had a few simple requirements:

1. That they have played socials with us.
2. That they braai and hang with us after the games.

This is not a team for superstar imports for “important games” as you see with other teams in the league. This is just a bunch of mates. And shall forever remain that way.

Those that have joined from outside our circle of friends have been absorbed into our social circle anyway.

What started of as social soccer has grown into a bond between all of us and our families, who came out to watch us play in knockout games and final’s. The support we have received has grown season after season.

Last week Mavericks won their premier division playoff to go to yet another final! We await the best team in the league, a team with a mix of natal players and SA beach soccer players. A team that has only lost one match (to us) in the last 2 seasons of playing in this league. Our chances of winning are slim. None of us play professionally, we don’t even practice. We just fight our hardest, never give up and give 100% every time. Except when we play Mavericks B. then we only need to give 10% hahaha… (when u beat us then you can take the bragging rights)

A big thank you must go out to Nitsa Kuys from the arena for putting up with us for this long. Her patience and phenomenal service has been appreciated to the highest degree.

The relationship that we have built with the arena will no doubt be a long standing one!

Since I left to Qatar, those tjops have been too lazy to book and organize socials, so at the moment they’re all only playing league. Bunch of wastes!!!! Especially Kavir!!! aka Bully Boy!!

The Mavericks gold/ silver final will be played on the 3^rd of June 2011 at 19:50. @ the Durban North Action Arena. Come through and watch the game and join the boys for a braai afterwards!