They have had their fair share of wins and losses and they are looking to pass them and start the year with a helping hand. Former Orlando Pirates teammates and friends Brighton Mhlongo and Oupa Manyisa recently launched their foundation aimed at empowering the youth. They have sent a callout asking schools and community members that wish to have them donate school shoes for learners to reach out. The football duo tells ZiMoja that they are looking to start small and within their means. "We will be donating 60 shoes and gift packs to learners that are in need,' Brighton says. "And as time goes by, we will grow and hopefully get more financial assistance for us to expand.' All the funds used to purchase the shoes come from their own pockets. "It takes a community to raise a child and we are appealing to people to lend a helping hand in anything they can assist with.'?

GIVING BACK?

The Platinum City Rovers FC midfielder, Oupa and Brighton says that the foundation goes beyond making donations. They wish to be good role models for the youth. "This really hits home for us. We wish to be good role models for the youth. The nation lacks role models and philanthropists who are there to serve with a purpose,'Oupa says. "We were also given a platform by people who believed in us. Someone stood in front of us when we were kids at school and motivated us not to give up and offered us the tools to navigate through life, therefore it doesn't make sense for us to pass it on to the next generation,' Oupa adds. They also wanted to repay their supporters who have been part of their blossoming careers. "We also felt the need to repay our fans for their continued support because most of them would use their hard-earned cash to support us at the stadiums when we played and cheer us on. So, we feel the need to say thank you to them through their kids and families,' says Brighton.?

WHAT THE FOUNDATION STANDS FOR?

Prior to their foundation being registered, they have gone to several schools and donated kits, books, equipment, and life skills, hosted training camps, and partnered with other foundations. "We would be invited as individuals or as a duo but without a name and we decided to partner and register our own organisation and continue with the work we have been doing.,'Oupa says. The duo recently returned from Lesotho where they hosted over 150 kids at the Kick4Life Sports Academy in Maseru for a two-day workshop and life skills initiative. "The first day was about sharing our experiences and journey in a workshop with the coaches, parents, kids, and parents. We have done a lot some documented and some not,' Brighton says.  Their foundation has been in existence for a few years, however, it officially got registered in 2022 as an NPO. "The foundation is all about giving back to the community. We realised that most organisations and individuals within the sports industry, venture into tournaments and we wanted to approach it differently and look at social development holistically,' Oupa says. "We go to primary schools and make sure that we give back the knowledge we acquired as sportsmen. We give them tools to navigate through life and emphasise academic and sports excellence. We have been going to schools donating our time, soccer and netball kits, offering support in their feeding scheme initiatives, donating toiletries, and doing motivational talks about life's challenges. We try to combat social ills like GBV, teenage pregnancy, and drug and substance abuse. Ultimately, we want to get to a point of uniting the school sports community and going back to the glory days of playing school tournaments for career development and scouting purposes,' Brighton says.