Soccer academy still going strong

The Siyadlala Football Academy continues to unearth talent, and nurture and groom future soccer stars. This academy, established in 2011, which focuses on the coaching and development of young soccer players and was founded by Mr Bongani Tshabalala, a former BIDVest Wits FC player, is still doing very well despite challenges with sponsorships.

Mpumalanga News spent a weekend at this academy based at the Valencia Sports Centre in Mbombela and it was business as usual with young boys honing their skills on “Well, this academy consists of a board of directors with members from a variety of backgrounds, skills and interests, but all of whom have a desire to promote and encourage football development at grass-roots level in South Africa,” said Tshabalala.

The academy currently employs three dedicated full-time coaches, two of whom act as operations manager and a technical manager respectively and who have played a high level of soccer themselves.

“Based on their own experiences these coaches have realised the importance of developing aspiring soccer players from a young age, in order to give the children the greatest chance of reaching their full potential, helping them to turn their soccer dreams into reality.

They use this programme to keep them away from streets, violence, crime, drugs and alcohol,” said Tshabalala.

He added that their main objectives were to develop and nurture young talent from the ages of five to 19 years.

“Our focus is mainly on the basics of football. We aim to get our coaches accredited with the South African Football Association and Fifa, specifically with regard to youth development coaching programmes, in order to produce quality players with strong moral values who can succeed in any league in the world,” he explained.

With very limited resources and a lack of funding, this academy has still produced good results thus far. However, Tshabalala believes that they still have a long way to go.

The academy has currently registered over 80 kids and has recently launched its u/10 division.

“Our concept of a Saturday soccer school will cater for players, (boys and girls) under the age of 10 (five to 10 years). It is aimed at introducing the basics of the beautiful game to these kids.

It is high time we start developing our kids from an early age just like the rest of the world is doing, and we strongly believe that this is the major reason why we fall short when we come up against them.

“This programme will run every Saturday from 08:30 till 11:00 and these young lads will be taught football skills and techniques through fun games,” he further explained.

For more information on how to enroll your child or for sponsorship and donation, contact Bongani on 082-698-8670 or Tebogo on 072-096-6966, or email siyadlalafootball@gmail.com