From the tender age of 11 Devon Reinders, from Dinwiddie, had the burning desire to become a football star.
In a bid to get closer to his dream of one day playing for Kaizer Chiefs, SuperSport United or Manchester City, he joined Alberton Football Club.
After years of dedication on the pitch, 22-year-old Reinder’s hard work seemed to have paid off when he was selected to attend trials hosted by the Shield Sbonis’ iDiski Campaign 2019, which was held between March and June.
The trials were held at the Alberton Football Club, recently.
The campaign, led by Shield head coach Dumisani Thusi, saw football scouts visit many football clubs across the country to identify the top 25 players.
These 25 players travelled to the Tuks High Performance Centre (HPC) in Pretoria for a three-day camp.
After the camp, one player was selected to join the Orlando Pirates FC Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) team, with a one-year contract and the opportunity to train with English professional football club Chelsea FC in London.
“The trial day was daunting but I trusted my skills, and after being selected everything started moving fast,” said Reinders.
“I received a phone call and was told a driver was going to pick me up from my house and I would be transported to HPC in Pretoria, where I would be told what was going to happen throughout the next few days there.”
Reinders said the intense training, with international coaches from Chelsea and local coaches from Orlando Pirates, began on July 29 and would last for hours each day.
“On day two of the three-day camp we trained for an intense three hours, ahead of a nail-biting match against the Orlando Pirates MDC team we were all looking to be a part of,” said Reinders.
Unfortunately, Reinders was not selected as the winner of the campaign this year.
“It was an honour to have been selected and to have trained with talented footballers from across South Africa,” he said.
“I coach the u-6 division at the Alberton Football Club and to have been part of this experience not only brought me great pleasure, but I learned new football techniques that I can pass down to my young team.”
Reinders, who has previously trained with the Kaizer Chiefs MDC team, stated that the Shield Sbonis’ iDiski Campaign further fuelled his love for football.
“I still have dreams of one day playing alongside Daniel Cardoso, Tebogo Tete Tlolane and Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior,” he said.
“Through dedication and hard work I will make my dreams come true.”
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