A trip overseas is a dream for many.
And that dream has come early for three budding football stars, who will be travelling to Spain later this year as winners of the 2018 Future Talent Search.
Nirvana Secondary School pupil Nkanyiso Maphosa, Zara Wilkinson of Victory House Private School in Roodepoort and Moosa Sahail of Al-Aqsa School will be flying out to Europe, courtesy of LaLiga.
Accompanying the learners will be winning coach Andile Zulu of White City Spurs.
A total of 10,000 Gauteng learners, comprising both boys and girls between the ages of 12 - 16, were involved in the games at the Nike Centre in Soweto, Johannesburg last month.
The group was later narrowed down to the top 120 scorers, who featured in the semi-finals, with the final round consisting of the top 10 learners.
“This is most certainly true for the Future Players Talent Search winners, who have been set on a path to professional careers in the game, and it is now up to them to make the most of their opportunity,” said Gauteng MEC for Sport Faith Mazibuko.
“As a department we are delighted to be involved in such an initiative. We are proud to be able to give young people in our province the chance to unlock all available avenues using sport not only to improve their lives, but also bring hope and inspiration to their communities.”
Future Gauteng Tournament director Ray Whelan said: “We were once again amazed by the number of young boys and girls who came to try out for the Future Players Search and as in the past years, the quality on display has been wonderful.
“We congratulate our worthy winners and wish them all the best in their future careers. We hope they take the opportunity given by their once-in-a-lifetime trip to Spain to learn as much as they can about what it takes to be a professional footballer. We thank our valued partners in this amazing initiative, especially LaLiga for giving these youngsters the chance to sample one of the best leagues in the world.”
The Talent Search winners will leave for European toward the end of the year and will be accompanied by representatives from the Gauteng provincial government and GSI Global.
“Part of the reason why we as LaLiga continue to be part of Future Champions is because of our ongoing commitment to help develop football from a grassroots level. It’s been a pleasure to once again be involved in this initiative and we wish the winners all the best on their travels,” said Antonio Barradas, Africa Director for LaLiga.
“We’d like to congratulate the three youngsters and the coach set to travel to Spain for a unique experience where they’ll be exposed to a different culture and way of living.
“Central to this way of living in Spain is football, with LaLiga forming an important part of this. The winners will get the chance to train with LaLiga clubs and it’s our hope that this helps them in their development and in fulfilling their dreams.”
