It is for boys and girls between the ages of 9 to 17 – basically kids who are still at school.
Mpumalanga province has a new soccer academy that aims to change the face of soccer development in the province – for good.
Called Mpumalanga School of Excellence or simply MSE, the sports school will start operating in January 2019.
Its boarding house is at the Novheni Lodge in KaNyamazane.
It has already conducted trials at the Mbombela stadium as well as in Lynnville, eMalahleni.
The school accepts boys and girls from the age of 9 to 17 – essentially players who are still attending school.
Day players who will not board full-time at the MSE’s clubhouse are also welcome to register, its founders said.
“We aim to nurture the talent of these young men and women while ensuring that they also get the necessary support to do well in school,” said one of MSE co-founders and coach, George Kgoale.
Kgoale said the school will not only offer top class soccer coaching but also have an after-school study programme for its players that is led by qualified teachers.
“Our responsibility,” said Kgoale, “is much bigger than soccer”.
He said they want to groom the children “into productive citizens in many areas”.
“And that’s why we took it upon ourselves to ensure that after their normal school day, they will go to training and then have qualified teachers to help them with whatever challenges they experience as far as their studies are concerned.
A modern soccer player must be ready and equipped for life after retiring in soccer,” Kgoale said.
MSE might be new but it has experienced and qualified coaches who have worked in established academies such as Mamelodi Sundowns and Supersport United. Kgoale is a former coach at Mamelodi Sundowns development.
Another MSE coach, Wonderboy Myanga, has a coaching career in soccer development spanning over 17 years. He’s a former coach at Supersport United development in Mbombela.
Myanga said that the experience at MSE makes all the difference. “We’ve been in soccer development for too long to know what is right for young players’ development. All we can promise parents is that their children will get the best coaching available because we’re qualified in the field,” he said.
MSE is already enrolling players from Mpumalanga and other provinces such as Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Free State.
MSE will have the following divisions: U9, U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19.
Myanga said: “With us, boys as young as 15 years old will be playing the SAB promotional league. The whole idea here is to develop players so that they are ready early enough to join semi-professional and professional teams.”
Anyone interested in joining MSE must contact George Kgoale – 078 591 9895 or Wonderboy Myanga 066 502 0982.
MSE is also available on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
(edited by ZK)
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