Although the activities for the new soccer season are expected to start in two months’ time, it is already business as usual in the camp of Black Leopards. The team resumed with its normal training sessions on Tuesday, after a recess of a month.

According to the club’s marketing manager, Mr Tshifhiwa Thidiela, their reason for commencing with their normal training sessions two months before the activities of the new season start, is that they wanted the team’s new head coach, Mr Kostadin Papic, to get enough time to prepare the team for the season ahead.

Thidiela said that they did not want to be caught off guard when the new season started. “We do not want to stay in the National First Division for more than one season, before returning to the Absa Premiership Division,” said Thidiela.

Lidoda Duvha were relegated to the National First Division at the end of the previous season, after finishing their league programme at the bottom of the log. As part of their preparations for the coming season, Black Leopards will conduct trials for new players at the Peter Mokaba Athletics Stadium in Polokwane this weekend.

Thidiela revealed that they were forced to conduct the trials in order to recruit a reasonable number of players below the age of 23. In terms of the rules and regulations for the league, all National First Division teams are required to field a minimum of five U/23 players every game. “These rules do not apply to the Absa Premiership teams and as such we are forced to go all out, searching for the U/23 players,” said Thidiela.

Thidiela further revealed tat they will reduce the number of the players who are above the age of 23 in order to accommodate the new recruits. He added that they still had more than 30 players, despite the fact that they released three, Rodney Ramagalela, Tiyani Mabunda and Raymond Monama, to Mamelodi Sundowns two weeks ago.