A school girl of KwaBhekilanga High School is among three winners of the 2017 Future Players Gauteng Talent Search who has gone on a learning curve to one of the world’s greatest footballing nations.
Young Alex football star Vuyo Xabanisa is one of a four-person group that left Johannesburg on 29 September destined for the football mecca of Madrid and Valencia in Spain. Xabanisa will be joined by two other Gauteng football stars, Thabang Rallele of Kgomotso Comprehensive High School in Soshanguve outside Pretoria and Thembelihle Fikile of Forest High School in Johannesburg south, and 2017 Future Coaches Talent Search winner, Sakhile Nkomo.
The group travelled as guests of the Spanish LaLiga, which has opened offices in Johannesburg as part of their commitment to aiding youth football development in South Africa.
In Madrid, they will take in a LaLiga clash between Leganes and Atletico Madrid, and undertake a tour of the Spanish capital, giving them a window into modern Europe and providing them with an education of sorts off the football pitch.
They will also visit the famed Real Madrid Museum, before heading to the coast to Valencia, where they will visit the academy of six-time LaLiga winners Valencia Club de Fútbol, and later attend training with another top-flight side, Villarreal.
The group will return to Johannesburg on 6 October. The Future Players initiative is a partnership between the Gauteng Provincial Government Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation and Global Sports International, and has been running since 2009.
Xabanisa will be the second Alex player to go abroad as part of this initiative, following in the steps of Tshepo Linda who is now an outstanding goalkeeper for Alex outfit Gauteng FC in the SAB League.
Read: Alexandra Cricket Club is ready for the big leagues
