Two young coaches from Khayelitsha and Gugulethu put Prince Harry through his paces on the football field on Monday.
His Royal Highness baked in the sunshine at Football for Hope in Harare, Khayelitsha, but he was an unfailingly good sport as he dribbled past beacons surrounded by 10 to 12-year-olds.
Harry even clapped along, shaking out his hands and legs and wiggling his bottom in time to the team's warm up song.
But for two of the Grassroots Soccer coaches, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to order a Prince around their turf.
Coach Wonderboy Sibiya, 27, first fell in love with football as a schoolboy in KwaZulu-Natal.
He came to Cape Town to find a job, and was instead roped into coaching young children - and he has never looked back.
“They keep me away from doing wrong things, while I'm working as a role model,” Sibiya said. “It's more like a passion and a hope; it's something that I'm living up to everyday. So I'm happy to do it.”
Now he's a Gugulethu local, and a qualified coach through the Premier Skills programme.
The programme is run by the British Council, and brings Premier League coaches and referees out to South Africa. They train local coaches, who in turn pass their skills along to young players.
“Prince Harry is very friendly,” Sibiya said. “He treated us on his level - he's very grounded, he's humble, he's very down-to-earth. It was an honour for me just to be with him.”
Fellow coach Athipila Sidondi, 22, led Prince Harry and the children in their last training exercise. It was all about being HIV safe on and off the field - which rang especially true the day before World Aids Day.
The young coach said that the visit from Prince Harry was an inspiration to the coaches and the children.
“Having someone like him around here, it's great for the kids and also for us,” she said. “It motivates us to be better people. I feel like I've also got royalty in my blood.”
Sidondi said it was great for young children from her community to see that HIV doesn't only affect them, as the Prince voiced his support for safe practices against HIV.
“Knowing him personally, getting to chat to him and see that he's a down to earth person, it's a great opportunity for us,” she said.
Prince Harry visited the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation as well as the Ottery Youth Centre before heading out to Football for Hope. His four-day tour of South Africa continues in Durban, the Kruger Park and Johannesburg.
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