KwaThema – Ayoba Yo Academy’s football team has not looked back since it was promoted to the Ekurhuleni league earlier this year.
The team has already played 5 matches, three of which they won. One ended in a draw.
“We played in the play-offs last year, but actually missed the opportunity to join the league by a small margin,” says 18-year-old Tshepo Nkabinde, the team’s coach.
At the beginning of this year they got another chance to make it through.
“This time we took it with both hands.”
The boys will now play matches against teams around Ekurhuleni, which gives them greater opportunities to be spotted by scouts.
“I believe in the balance between practical and theory when it comes to how we play.”
Nkabinde says he spends a lot of time teaching his strategy and hence he expects players to execute what he has told them on the field.
Innocent Mayoyo, founder of Ayoba Yo Academy, says he is very proud of the progress the boys have made.
“I groomed Tshepo myself because he came here in 2009.
“Now he is leading these boys and is teaching them what I taught him,” says Mayoyo.
The team has only played one match at home at KwaThema Stadium against Germiston FC.
Mayoyo says they are reaching milestones he always dreamt of.
“This is why I started the academy – to give talented boys the opportunity to be great.
People can live good lives by playing professional soccer.”
