MOBILE, Ala. --- With record numbers tuning in to watch on television, it’s safe to say that World Cup fever has gripped the United States.

But the World Cup has Jaco Keyser, University of South Alabama’s women tennis coach, tuning in for a different reason: the world’s most-watched sporting event is taking place in his home country for the first time.

The nation known for the hosting and winning of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, as seen in the movie Invictus, became the first African nation to host the finals when FIFA made the announcement in 2004.

“I was extremely excited (when it was announced),” said Keyser, who was a three-year letterwinner at South Alabama and served as an assistant coach before taking the reins of the women’s program in 2003. “South Africa is a sports-crazy country. Everyone was getting behind the national team and building towards the Cup. It’s hard in America to understand how big of a sport soccer is across the world. It’s the Super Bowl times ten.”

In South Africa under apartheid, soccer was a sport associated with blacks while rugby was a white-dominated sport. But since the abolition of the racial policy in 1994, the cross-pollination of the two sports has allowed the nation to come together.

“As the barriers have been broken down there’s a big crossover in both directions,” said Keyser. “Now blacks and whites play soccer and blacks and whites play rugby and also support both sports.”

Ten different venues across the country are hosting matches, but the one in Keyser’s hometown of Pretoria – Loftus Versfeld Stadium – has special meaning.

“I grew up with that stadium,” said Keyser. “Our tennis facility was right next to it. My dad was a rugby coach as well and some of his teams played at that stadium. It’s nice to see the area when they show it on TV.”

The vuvuzela has been the subject of controversy at the World Cup finals, due to the incessant noise produced by supporters at the stadiums, and has caused problems for both television viewers and players. But for Keyser, it is a source of national pride.
“I love it,” he said. “The more noise the better. It’s something that makes it stand out. It sounds like it’s getting under a lot of people’s skin but it’s something that differentiates us from past World Cups.”

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