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.
