The career of former Orlando Pirates player Ricky Lourenco ended prematurely, but it was not the end of the world for him, having re-established himself at one of the country's leading financial institutions.
At 28, Lourenco should be the peak of his playing career. The midfielder with a sweet left foot captained Pirates' Multichoice Diski Challenge (now DStv Diski Challenge) side and was seen as potential to make an impact in the first team, but he did not get an opportunity to showcase his talent in the top flight with the Soweto giants, or any other club in the Premiership.
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He had a spell in Botswana with reigning champions Jwaneng Galaxy after leaving Pirates, competing in the CAF Champions League during that period. That was the last club he played for.
Not deterred by the challenges in his football career, Lourenco held his head high and focused on making sure that he has something to fall back on. He studied accounting with the University of South Africa (UNISA) and is now working for a leading financial institution.
"I think professional football is done for me. At the age of 28, to go and play football in the NFD and not make a fantastic living and then after a year you need to go find a club...a lot of people don't know the realities of the football world where you are always fighting for a contract and so on," he told the Siya crew.
"I am still in football. I do coach and I am starting my own soccer academy. I also have my accounting degree with UNISA which I did when I was playing for Pirates. Now I work at Liberty. I do financial planning and investments and stuff like that. I've been there for a year-and-a-half. I would rather sacrifice not playing football, which I wish I could do...but it has to come to a point where you say 'does this make sense for me physically, financially and mentally'. Sometimes I get concerned when I see some of my peers trying to make it at 28 or 29 and they have nothing behind them. I think it's scary and I don't think it's spoken enough about how players are constantly fighting for opportunities to play professional football and sometimes the rewards are not what people think.
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"But I still keep up with the game and watch when I get a chance. I play in the Castle League, but that's just for a runabout and to do some form of exercise that involves football."
Lourenco will not be lost to football as he plans on launching his academy in February.
"My academy will be launching on February 1. It's going to nursery schools and essentially doing the ground work of football development. It's more about getting young boys and girls accustomed with the football. That's pretty much where we are starting, but obviously we have other plans to grow it and make it bigger. But bit by bit first. It's something I am quite excited about."
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