WINDHOEK – The just concluded partnership agreement between the Otjomuise Football Academy and UK Pro Academy sees a delegation of talent scouts and coaches from the Leeds-based academy coming to Namibia to host tryouts on March 16-17 at Football House in Windhoek.

The UK Pro Academy offers a professional player development training pathway for talented players who have aspirations of becoming pro footballers through the UK- based residential football academy programmes. 

Players that are selected from the tryouts are invited to reside in Leeds, UK where they will go through professional football training trialing with UK and US-based clubs during their stay. 

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Namibian youth players. We have never ever had a foreign football academy hosting tryouts in Namibia; the only way to trial with these academies is usually to take a flight to their country. 

“Of course we are getting a lot of criticism especially from fellow clubs that this is a money-making scheme, but professional clubs that host open tryouts all over the world require a certain registration fee, after all these guys will travel to Namibia on their own expense. 

“The other criticism we are getting is why … only offer this opportunity to Otjomuise Football Academy if this opportunity is legit. 

“Namibia is a small country with limited opportunities and we are not helping to develop the game if we limit this opportunity to our players, plus we are also aware that there are talented players out there that are not registered with us,” said Otjomuise Football Academy President Sacky Elago.

Every player participating is required to pay a registration fee of N$300, and interested players should request an application form from info@ukproacademy.com. All players are instructed to submit a completed registration form and pay the registration fee on March 16 at the venue. No bank deposits are required. No forms will be available at the field. 

“We feel that there are a lot of players throughout the world who will never have the opportunity to showcase their talent in front of the right people and that is why we travel the world with our qualified talent identification scouts to give opportunities for players who aspire to turning their much-loved hobby into a career. 

“We look forward to visiting Namibia for the first time and cannot wait to uncover some hidden footballing talent,” said Tim Summerfield, director of UK Pro Academy Ltd.