WINDHOEK – Founder and president of the emerging Otjomuise Football Academy, Sacky Elago, says the fast growing academy is a community-based initiative, which started off in Otjomuise on the outskirts of Windhoek.
The academy’s initital aim was to keep youngsters off the streets by offering them football training but later altered its objective from just simply taking the kids off the streets by resolving to offer them a career by training them to become professional footballers.
He said the academy was established in 2015 after he realised that there were no recreational activities in the location and many of the youth in the area were involved in criminal activities.
The age groups are Under 7,U9,U11,U13, U15 and a registration fee of N$500 plus a monthly fee of N$300 per player.
The scouting department has also announced that 2019 will be the final year in which the academy will take in players by registration, as from 2020 all intakes will be scouted by the academy.
“Namibian football needs a facelift now more than ever – we need to produce players capable of competing on a global stage to put Namibia out there like our fellow African nations such as Senegal, Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
“We need to complement the work being done by Brave Warriors coach Ricardo Manetti, by providing him with talented and ready youngsters to take our country to the next level,” said Elago.
Elago added that parents who wish to register their kids must be fully committed and be aware that they are making a long-term investment in their offsprings, because the players will travel to trial and play in tournaments in Europe every year.
These competitions are aimed at giving the boys an opportunity to gain international experience. The academy will also represent Namibia in the Youth World Cup in Sweden in July later this year, in a youth tourney hosting about 80 countries from all continents.
Meanwhile, the academy recently partnered with a UK Leeds pro academy in a partnership that sees players from the Otjomuise Football Academy get opportunities in England.
The future certainly looks bright for the youth of Otjomuise as plans for a N$120 million sport complex, which will be the biggest sports complex in Namibia, has already been approved and Otjomuise with the academy to become one of the chief beneficiaries of the project.
Interested parents can request an application from otjomuisesport@gmail.com before January 31. Training starts on February 4 at New State of The Art Chairman Mao Zedong High School in Otjomuise.