Transfers can look simple from the outside. A player leaves one club, another club makes an offer and suddenly supporters believe they know the whole story. For Bance, however, the journey from Marumo Gallants to Chippa United was far more complicated.
His first season at Marumo Gallants came with its share of challenges. Bance describes it as a campaign filled with highs and lows, but one that taught him valuable lessons about professional football.
“My season with Marumo was really not bad, a season filled with highs and lows,” he says. From that experience, he took perseverance, hard work, discipline and hope. “Nothing is easy and nothing is given as a gift.”
Leaving Marumo was therefore not about creating controversy. Bance says the decision was primarily based on the sporting side of his career and was made after discussions with the people around him.
“As I said, there were highs and lows, which is part of life,” he explains. “But the decision was based mainly on the sporting side, in consultation with the people around me.”
Then came the transfer speculation. Bance admits that transfer windows are filled with rumours, with some stories true and others completely false. For him, genuine interest becomes clear when clubs present concrete offers and serious projects.
“The clubs that are most interested make concrete offers followed by a project,” he says. “It is the most convincing ones that manage to attract players. At that game, Chippa United came out on top.”
One of the biggest stories surrounding his future involved Kaizer Chiefs. Yet Bance says he was not even fully aware of the speculation until supporters and journalists began contacting him about a possible move.
“I honestly did not really know what was going on until Kaizer Chiefs supporters and some journalists contacted me,” he says. There had been a brief conversation with an agent about Chiefs in December last year, but Bance insists that nothing concrete came from it.
Behind the scenes, there were other possibilities too. Bance reveals that two, even three clubs came close to signing him, but ultimately something more personal influenced his decision.
“There were two, even three other clubs that came very close to signing me,” he says. “But the feeling at the last moment tipped the balance.”
That feeling came with Chippa United. Bance says the club presented a convincing plan, a clear project and a concrete offer. The club’s president also made it clear how strongly he wanted Bance in the squad.
“Chippa was more convincing in its plan, its project and more concrete in its offer,” he says. For Bance, that personal approach mattered. He was not simply joining a club. He was joining a project where he felt wanted.
His relationship with Mike Makaab and his team has also become an important part of the next stage of his career. Bance says their discussions went beyond football and focused on his qualities, areas for improvement and his long term career plan.
“We were therefore on the same wavelength,” Bance says. He also praises Makaab’s experience and the work done by his team. “To be the best, you have to work with the best, they say.”
Now the talking has to stop and the football has to begin. Bance wants to make his presence felt at Chippa United through his attitude, discipline and performances.
He has identified specific areas where he wants to become more decisive, including playing out from the back, winning possession, scoring goals, creating assists and contributing from set pieces.
His ambitions are not only personal. Bance wants to help Chippa United compete for trophies while proving that the faith placed in him was justified.
“I will do everything I can to be at my best in order to satisfy everyone who believed in me,” he says. His goal is to become a key player who can help his teammates and the club go as high as possible.
The dream is clear. Bance wants to challenge for the league title and win cups while establishing himself as one of the important players in the squad and the championship.
“The ideal scenario is to be league champions and win a few cups,” he says. But he knows ambition alone will not be enough. “To get there, we will have to work very seriously.”
That may be the clearest message from Bance’s journey so far. The rumours, the interest from different clubs and the Chiefs speculation will eventually disappear into the background.
What will remain is the work. Marumo gave him lessons, Chippa has given him another opportunity and now Bance has to turn that opportunity into something meaningful. His philosophy is simple: go where you are wanted, work for what you want and never expect anything to be handed to you.