Trials are legit - Elago
The UK Pro Academy trials next month in Windhoek are a once in a lifetime opportunity for Namibian players.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
Men and women footballers aged between 14 and 22 are invited for trials at Soccer House from 16 to 17 March.
A recent partnership agreement between the Otjomuise Football Academy and UK Pro Academy will see a delegation of scouts and coaches from the Leeds-based academy coming to Namibia to host trials in Windhoek.
According to Otjomuise Football Academy president Sacky Elago the trials are legit, despite criticism and skepticism from certain individuals.
“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 secure trials with these academies is usually to take a flight to their country,” said Elago.
“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 at their own expense.”
Elago added that people are also asking why the tryouts are not exclusively for his academy and why he wants to include players from other teams.
“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 who are not registered with us,” Elago said.
“We feel 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 to players who aspire to turn their much-loved hobby into a career.
“We look forward to visiting Namibia for the first time and cannot wait to uncover hidden footballing talent,” said Tim Summerfield, the director of UK Pro Academy.
UK Pro Academy offers a professional player development training pathway for talented players who have aspirations of becoming professionals. This is done through its UK-based residential football academy programme.
Players that are selected from the tryouts are invited to reside in Leeds, where they will go through professional football training. They will also play trials for UK and US-based clubs during their stay.
Every player participating is required to pay a registration fee of N$300, interested players should request an application form from [email protected].
All players are instructed to submit a completed registration form and pay the registration fee on 16 March at the venue. No bank deposits are required. No forms will be available at the field.
Men and women footballers aged between 14 and 22 are invited for trials at Soccer House from 16 to 17 March.
A recent partnership agreement between the Otjomuise Football Academy and UK Pro Academy will see a delegation of scouts and coaches from the Leeds-based academy coming to Namibia to host trials in Windhoek.
According to Otjomuise Football Academy president Sacky Elago the trials are legit, despite criticism and skepticism from certain individuals.
“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 secure trials with these academies is usually to take a flight to their country,” said Elago.
“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 at their own expense.”
Elago added that people are also asking why the tryouts are not exclusively for his academy and why he wants to include players from other teams.
“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 who are not registered with us,” Elago said.
“We feel 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 to players who aspire to turn their much-loved hobby into a career.
“We look forward to visiting Namibia for the first time and cannot wait to uncover hidden footballing talent,” said Tim Summerfield, the director of UK Pro Academy.
UK Pro Academy offers a professional player development training pathway for talented players who have aspirations of becoming professionals. This is done through its UK-based residential football academy programme.
Players that are selected from the tryouts are invited to reside in Leeds, where they will go through professional football training. They will also play trials for UK and US-based clubs during their stay.
Every player participating is required to pay a registration fee of N$300, interested players should request an application form from [email protected].
All players are instructed to submit a completed registration form and pay the registration fee on 16 March at the venue. No bank deposits are required. No forms will be available at the field.
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