Under 15 League Team Follow

About Us

Highlanders Football Club is changing its name to Strides Football Club. This is driven by the fact that there are now too many football entities with the name 'Highlanders' and as such, those who follow our club confuse us with those many entities. The club has decided to take up a different name, and has decided on Strides Football Club.

Highlanders Football Club was itself established in 1999, and has thus reached 20 years of operation without a break. Strides Football Club is not a new name. Strides Football Club too was established in 1999. It operated parallel to Highlanders Football Club as stiff competitors for 5 years. In 2004 the two clubs merged and continued to use the name of Highlanders.

In the merging, Strides contributed its resources and management to Highlanders. The Executive Officer of Highlanders was the Executive Officer of Strides Football Club when the two merged. Highlanders, entering the 2019 season, does so as Strides with many reforms.

Highlanders has at some point dominated the Phelindaba Local Football Association league with mostly Under 13 and Under 19, has since the leaving of its Junior Football Coach, Mr. Gavin Mafela, started to suffer in performance, with the major contributing factor being the exodus of departure of good players to other clubs, notably Mountain Movers and Young Tigers. This onslaught started around 2014 and continues.

Highlanders has since reduced its teams to just only Under 15 and Under 17, with its Operations Officer, Mr. Sam Mabunda acting as a coach for both divisions. In 2019, Strides comes with reforms that focus in the strengthening of governance.

There is an expectation that performance will pick up, but slowly as the focal point of the reform will mainly be with the running of the club. In Governance, the club will re-register, but this time as a Non-Profit Company (NPC).

It will improve its relations with the parents of the players as all its players are minor. It will also seek to beef up its manpower, particularly from the coaching, refereeing and administrative sides. It will also seriously seek sponsorship to ensure that it can afford its operations.

Whilst the focal point of reform will be on the running of the club, it is expected that the performance of the Under 17 division will pick up, albeit slowly. However with the 2020 season, the excellence and dominance in performance in the performance of the team will be the primary focus.

In 2020 the Under 13 and Under 11 divisions will be added through a rigorous recruitment drive. The Under 19 division will be created by progressing some of the Under 17 players thereto. The Under 17 team will be the flagship of the club in 2020. Sponsorship and Membership fees will play a major role in driving the operations of the club.

Brand management will play a crucial role in enabling the club to attract sponsorship to the keep the excitement within the club and its stakeholders.

Social Media will be used as a tool of propagating the excitement both internally and externally. We call this the Rebirth of the Slick.

Watch the Space.

Proudly Sponsored by: