It is rare these days for a well-known person to carry out an act of kindness without it being captured by cameras and blasted onto social media – whether they like it or not. But on Friday night, columnist Gasant Abarder stumbled on to just such a scene of a role model – away from the public glare, he writes in this latest #SliceOfGasant column.
Abarder, who recently launched his book, Hack with a Grenade, is among the country’s most influential media voices. Catch his weekly column here.
He cuts a lanky figure. A giant towering over a group of girls and boys. I struggle initially to see who this new football coach is working with the under-8 players. The Hashim Amla-like beard then gives it away. It’s Taariq Fielies – the rock at the heart of Cape Town City Football Club’s defence.
It’s icy cold on the field at Salt River Blackpool Football Club. But this Friday night, at the very foot of Devil’s Peak, it is especially freezing. I feel sorry for the kids in training. Taariq is wearing his hoodie up, over a beanie and has track pants on. You can feel the cold in your bones.
I have admired Taariq for a while and I personally believe he is the country’s best centre-back in the PSL right now. He is in the current Bafana squad thanks to his commanding performances as a natural leader in the Cape Town City Football Club side.
I support Orlando Pirates but I go to the DHL Cape Town Stadium to see Taariq play with my teenage son, who is a City fan. It’s rare to go to a football match to watch a centre-back play but he is such a joy to watch. I don’t know why one of the big clubs up north hasn’t signed him yet.
Dare I say, if he was playing in England, the ball-playing centre-back, who creates so many chances for his club and chips in with some spectacular goals, would have been snapped up by one of the big clubs. Better by far than Man United and England’s Harry Maguire, Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings and Man City’s John Stones put together.
Yet, that is where the similarities end. It’s the off-season in the PSL and while the rest of the professionals are on holiday, hanging out with friends and showing off their expensive rides, Taariq is here in the suburb where he grew up, teaching 8-year-old boys and girls how to turn and shoot at goal.
The night before, he was training with the senior side. And it’s no once-off, as I’ve often seen him watching the juniors play where he first played as an under-9 and was eventually scouted by Ajax Cape Town as a 15-year-old.
If you didn’t know he was a pro footballer, you’d never know because the man who still lives in Salt River is so humble and chats to everyone. He lives in the next road from the field but this is the first time I’ve actively seen him helping out with training.
There are no cameras for social media to capture the moment because that isn’t what Taariq is about.
‘It’s important to contribute here at Salt River Blackpool Football Club. I can possibly help out to lift the club and bring it back to the way I once knew it to be and where it can reach new heights,’ he says.
‘So, I am just here to show them the basics and help these juniors get ready for the next step.’
I tell him this would be the perfect PR for Cape Town City Football Club. But this isn’t why he does it. In fact, I doubt the club knows what Taariq is up to during the off-season.
‘I’m not really into all those social media things. I’m really just here to help these boys and girls,’ he says.
It is so refreshing. We put a lot of pressure on sportspeople to be role models. A role they don’t ask for. Their talent, hard work and dedication in the sport of their choice make them celebrities by default. They are expected to behave in a certain way. And if they don’t, their every move is scrutinised.
This is especially true of black players who play in Europe’s top leagues for big money. It often turns ugly. Recently, Vinicius Jnr of Real Madrid fell victim to heinous racist abuse. The black players’ wealth is often policed with headlines like, ‘Marcus Rashford goes to shop in super car’ (he was at the shop with a car he has owned for a while).
When black players miss penalties, they are the victims of racist abuse. When a white player does the same, like Harry Kane for England at the World Cup, it is forgotten a week later. Yet, these leagues have end racism campaigns that only give platitudes to this horrible scourge.
If I didn’t stumble on to this scene, no one would have known about these incredible acts of generosity by this Salt River hero, Taariq Fielies. He doesn’t do it for the cameras but for the love of his community and the game he plays so well. A true role model for the kids of Salt River.
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Picture: Gasant Abarder
