This 11-year-old laaitie from Elsies River, has just been accepted into the prestigious Cape Town Spurs Football Club after getting through the trials successfully in December last year.
I sat down with him and his mom, Roxy at their 35th Avenue home to see how this amazing achievement unfolded.
Listen to this. I ask him what makes him different, why did he succeed in getting accepted and the other kids did not, what gives him the edge? “I work hard, I stay focused and I am very disciplined.”
Ek val amper van die stoel af, so impressed am I with his maturity. Malaki, you’ve gotta love that name, and what about the surname? Windvogel literally means wind bird, and given the biblical roots of his first name, moet ‘n mens maar wonder of dit nie alles prophetic is nie.
Anyway, so Roxy tells me Malaki showed an interest in football at a young age. “He is also quite active on social media and he was the one who came to his dad and I to tell us about the trials at Spurs.”
She says her and Site Manager hubby, Greg, have always been supportive of Malaki’s football aspirations. “He started off at the now defunct Azzurri Academy at age 8, then, after seeing an ad on TikTok for trials at Edgemead FC, we took him, and he not only aced the trials, but was voted Man of the Match for a game in March during his first year, 2025.
Late last year, he saw trials being advertised on social media again, this time for Spurs, and once again, the pattern proved successful and he is now a Cape Town Spurs player. For the high-performance team, not the B-team,” Roxy adds proudly.
I ask Roxy about the challenges she faces in the community and living in Elsies River. “I love it here and there is a lot of raw talent in all kinds of sports and cultural activities here, but I think the kids who get to the next level are the kids whose parents support them and take an active interest in their children’s talents.”
Roxy says being a full-time mom helps. “When I was working, I literally had zero involvement with the kids’ extramural activities, now I’m there like a bear, a mamma bear, I mean he has training three times a week, and games on the weekend.”
The crazy thing about it all is that Malaki, who has become something of a celebrity at his school, J.S. Klopper where he is in the sixth grade, has inspired his 16-year-old brother Megial, to follow in his footsteps. “Megial was pre-occupied with typical teenage things, but since Malaki’s football journey started bearing fruits, it has brought the two of them much closer and they have an incredible bond now.” Megial, recently passed the trials at Edgemead and now plays for the club.
Malaki’s whole vibe is that of a young man who knows what he wants and how to get there. I ask him about his role models and his future plans. “Ronaldo (Cristiano) is the bomb, and I support Liverpool, I like Hugo Ekitike. I want to do well at all the clubs I play for and in the long-term, I hope to play in the English Premier League.”
Roxy loer vir hom so skyns, before looking at me and saying. “He knows the drill, he has to keep up his grades at school as well or there’s no football,” she says with a sly grin. #BYOH
