Prestige Football Academy is exchanging its first blows with the province’s heavyweights.
Competing in the Gauteng Development League (GDL) for the season, the first tentative steps have brought a mixed bag of results and a few big scalps. In the four age group-specific 18-team divisions, their U13 and U17 teams are fighting hard but sit among the bottom half of the log. Evening out the club’s fortunes, the U15 and U19 teams ruffled big feathers, sitting fifth and seventh, respectively.
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The GDL features the development teams of all the Gauteng-based Premier Soccer League giants, those on the fringe of the big leagues, and the biggest academies in the province. On Saturday, April 22, Prestige hosted the SAFA School of Excellence, earning just one draw from their four games. The U17s played out a goalless draw while the U13s, U15s, and U19 went down 4-1, 2-1, and 2-0, respectively.
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“Being our first season in GDL has been an eye-opener for all of us. Our kids and parents have come to the party and embraced the challenge. All the teams we have played against thus far have been in GDL for years, so we are happy with the results. For example, winning 6 points out of 12 against Supersport United, away from home was brilliant,” said Prestige’s CEO Samuel Manyama.
Still construction phases of the greater project, Prestige are learning and growing with every matchday.
“We plan to embed good practices throughout the club, from footballing philosophy to structure and identity. We don’t want to just develop players, but we want to be extremely competitive,” said Samuel.
To achieve this, Prestige has partnered with Supersport United Soccer Schools Florida to begin grooming their U9s for precision possession football.
“This blend will guarantee our kids minimum 1 500 touches a training session which is vital for their development,” elaborated Samuel. Knowledge among coaches will also be shared as trophy-winning coaches Jason King and Sbu Ntside from Supersport United Soccer Schools make up Prestige’s technical staff.
Growing the club means growing its footprint in the community and Prestige is looking for partner schools to assist with facilities and the rebirth of their women’s football programme. Building excellence is a process but every minute on the pitch is another brick in a slowly solidifying foundation.
