I wouldn't say it's a burden

Steve Barker's tenure as Stellenbosch FC coach is a true testament that perseverance pays. After retiring from playing football, Barker, who is the nephew of the late former Bafana Bafana coach Clive

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Steve Barker: No, I wouldn't say it's a burden at all. I just think that when a club puts structures down and believes in what they want to do, follows their strategic objectives, and holds on to those for the benefit of the club, good things happen.

One of our strategic objectives is to be a competitive team for many, many years to come, especially since the region has never had a professional team before. When you have a vision, sound management, good leadership, everything that goes with it, really good staff. Our recruitment processes, and the sport and medical sides of things, everything is of a very high level. So, I just think it's actually enjoyable; it's not expectation that becomes too much. It's just about keeping everyone accountable, continuing to believe in what we do. You will have challenges, as life will always put challenges ahead of you. It's just how you react to those challenges and how you overcome them that makes a club bigger, stronger, and wiser. Currently, we're just in a small phase of challenges, but we're confident and have trust in what we are doing. We will come through it, and I believe we will be even wiser and grow stronger from the experiences we are having right now. But no, there's no burden of expectation. It's more about being very grateful to be working for a football club like Stellenbosch, very grateful for the staff that we have and the support that we get. May it long continue.

DF: If you had to choose between winning the CAF Confederation Cup or developing 10 players who would represent South Africa for the next decade, which one would you choose coach?