New Partnership Seeks Future Football Stars

Castle Lager today unveiled its ambitious initiative to find and develop South Africa’s undiscovered football talent, strengthening the future prospects of soccer in South Africa.

The programme, called Castle Superstars, will run in partnership with the South African Football Association (SAFA) to identify tomorrow’s soccer stars.

During the eight-month campaign, players from the 52 SAFA regions will compete for a place in the Castle Lager Superstars XI.  Qualifying players will be coached, conditioned and mentored by the country’s top professional coaches, trainers and ex-Bafana players, earning them the opportunity to prove themselves to local professional football clubs, and possibly even abroad.

“Castle Lager has been a proud supporter of South African football for over 50 years and Bafana Bafana for 20 years, and is extending that commitment to drive the development of our local undiscovered talent, giving them an opportunity to prove themselves at the highest level of the game that they would otherwise not have experienced,” explains Alastair Hewitt, General Manager for Castle Lager.

Performance analysis services will be provided by Amisco, which serves 60% of FIFA member countries with football statistics and analysis technology.  Data captured by Amisco will be used by coaches and scouts to identify and monitor individual talent throughout the campaign.

The first phase of the campaign, commencing in September, will see players in 52 SAFA regions throughout the country being scouted to be part of the Castle Superfans XI.  Scouted and selected players will attend a two-week training camp in January 2013, where they will coached and mentored by ex-Bafana captain Neil Tovey and be exposed to camp life at a professional level in preparation for professional trials.

SAFA CEO, Dr Robin Petersen, explains the importance of the initiative to the Association’s long-term development strategy.

“By partnering with a brand that has been a strategic sponsor of the South African national team for over 20 years, we are able to build a talent pipeline for South Africa’s professional leagues and ultimately the national team.  While development takes time, this initiative will bring players closer to where they should be at their age.

“SAFA is all about development, and this initiative is one of many that the Association is using to help nurture talent from an early age. We have to use the bottom-up approach, because if you take care of development using the right components and the right personnel, then the top, which is Bafana Bafana, will take care of itself,” he explains.