Let the madness continue

World Cup euphoria has seen millions of South Africans, many of them rugby or cricket fans with little knowledge of soccer, rally behind Bafana Bafana in unprecedented numbers.

But will this translate into more children playing the sport, or a local derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates drawing an 80000-strong crowd at Johannesburg's Soccer City?

Ajax Cape Town spokesman Shooz Mekuto said the team was hoping to secure the Cape Town Stadium for their games, as they believed new fans, won over by the World Cup, would want to attend local matches.

"My experience during the last game in Cape Town, the semifinal, I was sitting with a family and they wanted to know when we're playing and they said to me: 'We are coming with our families,' " said Mekuto.

"They had never been to a football match, especially local."

Mekuto said clubs would be "wise" to capitalise on the hype created by the tournament.

"The World Cup obviously has left a legacy, something for us to work towards," he said.

Dries van der Wal, head of rugby at Bloemfontein's Grey College, said there had been "unbelievable support" for the World Cup and the national team, especially in a city and school traditionally dominated by rugby.

"It's created more of an awareness around soccer, but it's too early to state whether more kids will be playing soccer."

Van der Wal said one of the main reasons soccer was not as well developed as rugby was because of the lack of organisation at school level.

Arnold van der Merwe, sports organiser at Potchefstroom Gimnasium agreed, adding that rugby received more funding.

"If they start development, I'm sure kids will take an interest," he said.

Holiday soccer camps also saw more children showing an interest in the sport.

Johannesburg gym owner Nicky Whibley said she decided to run a soccer camp because so many of her clients did not know how to keep their children occupied during the long holiday.

"This is the first one I've run so I can't say whether there's an increase in interest, but I had to turn children away. The feedback from parents was that yes, they want more of this," she said.

SA School Sports magazine editor Rogan Summerton said there was more interest in soccer but that top schools would need to push the sport so that it would one day "be able to give rugby a run for its money".