Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson sets new goal 'to develop a Barcelona' in ambitious project

Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson has set out to establish a multisport sports complex in Florida, Roodepoort, Johannesburg.

The veteran coach's ambition is to develop not only footballers, but athletes who will thrive in other sports codes. 

He has laid out his vision for a project that he feels could influence South African sport.

“The project is a multi-coded sports complex,” Johnson told FARPost. 

“I want to start it with the communities in Florida, Roodepoort and Soweto. These are your low-income areas. It is a project for me that is not to build footballers; it is about football. Football is one of the codes, but it is about building Olympians.

“I think we don’t… I think at the moment we have different types of facilities, but we don’t have a facility that specifically looks to build Olympians, if you understand what I’m saying.”

“I want to develop a Barcelona, if you think about it. Not many people know this: Barcelona is a sporting club rather than a football club. Al Ahly is a sporting club, not a football club," said Johnson.

“The idea is to try to open up as many opportunities as possible for the kids, for the underprivileged children. We aim to keep them grounded as long as we can. That is, before they can enter a professional or high-performance environment.

“I am looking at the holistic approach to athletes. For example, what do you do with a 17-year-old athlete when you tell him he is not good enough to make it? This is the devastating news many kids have to face. 

"You were told from the age of seven that you were going to make it, but were suddenly told the opposite at 17? How do kids handle that? This centre will be able to do that," added the veteran coach.

“Oftentimes, kids face this news and end up turning to alcohol and drugs. They face depression and things like that. We are looking to get funding.” 

While Johnson might have struggled as Chiefs head coach, his voice carries weight when analysing issues.

He offers his opinion on what Chiefs finds it difficult to provide players to Bafana Bafana.

"It's got nothing to do with recruitment, you've got to look at it and analyse it on a pitch stage. If you look at who dominates the Spanish national team, who dominates?" Johnson asked as per Soccer Laduma.  

"Those are consistent teams [Barcelona and Real Madrid players]. So what does that tell you? All Chiefs have to do is be more consistent within the league and their players will get an opportunity to play in the Bafana team. 

"That's all it is telling you. I mean when you look at it like that, then you've answered the question you asked yourself," he continued.   

"If you ask yourself, who is dominating the South African national team? [Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns]. Thank you. Are they consistent? [Yes]. It's not about recruitment, it's not about this [and that], it's about being consistent within your league, and that way your players are getting noticed more."