The British Football Academy hosted journalists from several local and national online, print, and radio publications at our base Pinetown Boys High School, where we played an exhibition match against the school’s first XI on Friday, 23 February 2024.
The fruitful engagement saw the BFA feature in a number of write ups in both English and isiZulu community media platforms, as well as Durban-based Isolezwe daily newspaper under the Independent Media stable.
The published article written by NHLAKANIPHO MNQAYI, translated to English, reads as follows:
The British Football Academy (BFA) based in KwaZulu-Natal aims to develop talented football boys with the aim of sending them to English leagues at a young age as it has partnered with Pinetown Boys High School.
This nursery which is affiliated with Pinetown Boys High School, not only collects talented boys from 12 to 16 years old, but also gives them a scholarship to study at this school, from Grade 8 to matric.
According to the management of the center, those who do well can end up going abroad to play in the English leagues in different divisions, such as the English Premier League, English Football Championship, and English Football League Divisions 1 or 2.
This team plays under the South African Football Association (SAFA) in the Durban Central League in the under-17 division.
John Read, and Peter Coyle based in London, and Ian Kilbride, based in Cape Town, are the ones who founded this nursery and are its sponsors as all three are passionate about football.
Read speaking to the media during the launch on Friday, said that many players in the world get the opportunity to play in the English Premier League but few come from South Africa.
“The British Football Academy is determined to change the fact that players from this country were young. We will give opportunities to talented boys, give them the motivation and interest to succeed as players who play in the paid division. This nursery is not used by British teams, but it is independent,” said Read.
He went on to say that the main objective is to see the talent spread here in South Africa when it comes to football.
“It’s been 30 years since I came here to South Africa, there is a lot of talent when it comes to football. Some countries produce players who go to eat abroad but here in South Africa that doesn’t happen, which is proof that the way players are raised is not at a good level.
“There is an amazing talent in the way the players play, but the way they are brought up is not at a good level, that’s why we saw a gap and an opportunity to start a kindergarten that does not stand up in South Africa, we talked to many schools here in KwaZulu-Natal, but we chose Pinetown Boys High because of the contribution this school has in terms of sports and the facilities they have as a school which are of high quality. In order for all that to be achieved, these boys must be determined, work hard and behave well,” said Read.
The coach of this nursery, Siyabonga Mnganga (28), said: “We wanted to find the right players, not only in terms of ability but in the way they behave, the way they are determined, and the way they look at things because we changed schools as they are currently studying at Pinetown Boys High.”
This coach who is not a novice when it comes to coaching has a degree in Personal Training and Fitness from the Exercise Teachers Academy and a SAFA D and Confederation of African Football (CAF) C coaching license.
Daine Klate who played in Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits, trained at the School of Excellence, is an ambassador of this institution.
“My work with Daine Klate has helped me a lot. He is a humble person, my meeting with him has given me a lot of knowledge as someone who has played at the highest level and then humbled himself to start at the lower level, he will train so that I can get information from him and the way he shows me the truth, he recommends if necessary, when he doesn’t see well, he tells us to fix it, ” said Mnganga.
Other co-coaches are Oscar Buthelezi and Mpumelelo Mkhize.
For the original article, click here.
