Tanzania: Sports Council to Establish Soccer Academy Next Year

The National Sports Council is on its way to establish a soccer academy in the next few weeks, it has been learned.

Frederick Mwakalebela, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) secretary general said yesterday that over 100 youths from various regions will assemble in Dar es Salaam from January 4 for selection.

A quarter of the number will form the first batch for the youth soccer academy supervised by Col. (rtd) Idd Kipingu, the chairman of the National Sports Council.

The youthful players are expected in Dar es Salaam a day before the screening is to be conducted by a panel also featuring foreign experts set to arrive for this exercise, he said.

Coaches to be tasked with the academy will be listed later as TFF finalises procedures to secure visas and temporary working permits, he said.

This is the first TFF initiative to groom soccer talent, with the selected youths not only learning to play soccer but also attending formal schooling. The new initiative is intended to promote talents for building up a pool of capable players for clubs and the national team.

Youth soccer academy strategies are familiar the world over, enabling various countries to excel at the international stage after years of youth academy efforts, he said.

Ghana, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon that emerged on the scene at different periods started that way, grooming players fitting with top flight sides in the various premier leagues in Europe.

“Grassroots soccer promotion was promoted through our Serengeti Boys team that eventually groomed players in the likes of Nizar Khalfan and Amir Maftah,” the TFF executive added.

The National Sports Council is on its way to establish a soccer academy in the next few weeks, it has been learned.

Frederick Mwakalebela, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) secretary general said yesterday that over 100 youths from various regions will assemble in Dar es Salaam from January 4 for selection.

A quarter of the number will form the first batch for the youth soccer academy supervised by Col. (rtd) Idd Kipingu, the chairman of the National Sports Council.

The youthful players are expected in Dar es Salaam a day before the screening is to be conducted by a panel also featuring foreign experts set to arrive for this exercise, he said.

Coaches to be tasked with the academy will be listed later as TFF finalises procedures to secure visas and temporary working permits, he said.

This is the first TFF initiative to groom soccer talent, with the selected youths not only learning to play soccer but also attending formal schooling. The new initiative is intended to promote talents for building up a pool of capable players for clubs and the national team.

Youth soccer academy strategies are familiar the world over, enabling various countries to excel at the international stage after years of youth academy efforts, he said.

Ghana, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon that emerged on the scene at different periods started that way, grooming players fitting with top flight sides in the various premier leagues in Europe.

“Grassroots soccer promotion was promoted through our Serengeti Boys team that eventually groomed players in the likes of Nizar Khalfan and Amir Maftah,” the TFF executive added.