The old Vaal Professionals used to be one the most feared teams in the old national soccer league. Now the old soccer players give back to their community by mentoring youngsters in the Sedibeng area. By KEN BORLAND.

There is a vast, largely untapped reservoir of footballing talent near Johannesburg among the over 1-million people living in the Sedibeng region, nevermind the neighbouring centres of Heilbron, Parys, Villiers, Kroonstad, Sasolburg and Heidelberg. It is also an area that has provided a salutary lesson in how former players can play a vital role in development.

While the locals complain about the roads that are rapidly becoming potholes surrounded by islands of tar and wonder how the massive ArcelorMittal factory in Vanderbijlpark benefits the community, there is a group of residents who are laying the foundations for not only the development of all that football talent in the region, but also a long-desired return of professional soccer to the Vaal triangle.

Vaal Professionals were based in the Sedibeng region and used to be one of the most feared teams in the old national soccer league, winning the BobSave SuperBowl (now the Nedbank Cup) in 1994, becoming the first South African team to play in the Mandela Cup – the African Cup winners' cup - and being a founder member of the PSL in 1996...