KAIZER Chiefs midfielder Hendrick “Pule” Ekstein grew up playing soccer in the dusty streets of Bekkersdal, near Randfontein on the West Rand.
As good as he is, the 27-year-old almost did not make it to the professional ranks because of the limited amount of exposure young footballers from his township get. He had to wait until he was 22 to get his first approach from a professional football club.
Ekstein used to work at the local mine near Bekkersdal. The mine had a team, Junior Ranger, which played in the then Vodacom League, now ABC Motsepe League. They got the chance to play against the Chiefs reserves team – and that is where he was discovered.
“I knew I had to leave it all on that field, I had to play like it was my last game because I did not know if another opportunity like that would come along,” he said.
“Luckily, Chiefs were impressed and expressed their desire to sign me.”
However, the first team coach at the time, current Bafana Bafana mentor Stuart Baxter, was not keen on the signing of a 22-year-old who had not played for a development team before.
“I had to work my way into the first team and age was not on my side,” Ekstein said. Despite that, the diminutive attacking midfielder would eventually get promoted to the senior team after a year in the youth development academy. He has gone on to make a total of 72 appearances for the Glamour Boys.
Ekstein is determined to make sure that young players from his township get opportunities to be discovered at an early age. He is preparing to host a youth soccer tournament in Bekkersdal which will target the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 age groups.
“It is a three-day tournament that will kick off on Saturday 22 September and end on Monday 24 September.
“I just want these boys to get exposure because there is a lot of talent in the townships but not a lot of it gets noticed.”
As far as the current PSL season is concerned, Ekstein is looking to make it one of his and the club’s best.
He came on as a 87th minute substitute as Chiefs recorded their first three points this season in a 4-1 thrashing of Cape Town City FC on Saturday.
Ekstein hopes they have turned the corner. “We didn’t get off to the sort of start we wanted but the performance at the weekend will give us some momentum. The boys are working hard and it is starting to show on the pitch.”
