Soccer Player

Despite progressing through the football ranks in Gauteng, it is in Cape Town where 21-year-old midfield sensation Keagan Dolly has found his home.

Prior to joining the Urban Warriors (Ajax Cape Town for those without football proclivities), Dolly spent time at the South African Football Association School of Excellence (a school for promising football players), the youth systems of Mamelodi Sundowns and the University of Pretoria. He made his professional debut in the 2012/13 season against the touring Manchester United side and has featured ever since.

While he has found his momentum now, it was difficult growing up “in two different homes”, as he refers to the time he spent at the School of Excellence. He admitted to getting homesick, but persevered and learnt a lot from his time there.

His hard work ethic and commitment to continually improving himself have seen him receive the PSL Young Player of the Season award for the past season. However, he still shies away from media attention and focuses on his training. While he values the recognition, Dolly says that football is a team sport and it is the fact that everybody works well together that enables him to perform well.

His form has been such that rumours of Sundowns and Orlando Pirates being interested in signing him for the new campaign have been dominating the football sections of late.

But irrespective of where he will be playing come August 8, one thing is certain – Dolly has it all to build on his past successes with new challenges and opportunities waiting for him around the corner.
— Iwan Pienaar

Twitter: @Dolly_Keagz28