EXCELLING U-23 PLAYERS FOR CHACKLAS’S SA ACADEMY

MBABANE – The country’s excelling Under-23 players are set to be taken to a South Africa-based football academy and marketed across the globe.

This will be done, courtesy of local Kaizer Chiefs legend Abel ‘Chacklas’ Shongwe, who has started FTI Football Academy in the neighbouring country. This academy is in Johannesburg. In his words, this football school will not only unearth talent but players stand a chance to benefit from it. “At the moment I’m still targeting Under-23 down, and not that I can’t go over that age but you have to be exceptionally good because my intention is not to keep players long within the structure but to market the players to the big teams locally and abroad.  That’s all, I am now doing something that I love called football,” said Shongwe.  

Professional

According to South Africa’s Soccer Laduma, there are already recruits in the academy and these players will be taken to some Premier Soccer League (PSL) and other professional clubs. So far, the country has a number of juniors, especially Under-20s plying their trade in some SA’s football academies as well as abroad. “Yes I’ve started this academy with the intention to check around. I’m talking of global sports; it’s not about South Africa’s players only but all over the world where I will be going and identifying talent. 

Eswatini will be my first stop. For now, I’ve just started but as time goes on, I know it’s going to be massive with the players that I will be having here,” he added. Shongwe is also a member of a football scout for all football divisions from amateur to all professional ranks, recruiting and exposing youngsters to high level of football. He joined Amakhosi in 1986 at the age of 18 from Mbabane Highlanders.

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