Champions Academy adds sport to its BTECH programme

Champions Academy received a full soccer kit from AFC Bournemouth during the coaching clinic in Johannesburg earlier this month. Photo: Champions Academy.

Champions Academy adds sport to its BTECH programme

Date: 24 June 2023 By: Bernard Chiguvare

Five coaches and four soccer players from Champions Academy attended a coaching clinic in Johannesburg earlier this month after the academy, which launched its BTEC Level 3 vocational programme less than a month ago, introduced a sporting curriculum as well. The coaching clinic was conducted by AFC Bournemouth, one of the English Premiership’s top clubs.

Champions Academy Principal Ms Sonja Prinsloo said the coaches and students had been very excited to participate in the coaching clinic. “We are just as excited that the BTEC programme will now have a sports sector to give students the opportunity to pursue learning in different sporting areas, like coaching, fitness and even sports management. This is an opportunity for students from the community who want to join Champions Academy in the afternoon to be trained and get qualifications related to sports,” said Prinsloo. The programme starts next year.

Prinsloo said the reason why they had introduced sport to the BTECH programme was because it had become such a powerful tool for uniting communities. “The academy will start with soccer, as soccer is the main sport interest among students. We will introduce a soccer club to bring the community in. The academy’s coaches will be going into different communities to start soccer clubs. Though the programme starts with those who live closer to Louis Trichardt town, my dream is to extend it to all communities in Limpopo,” said Prinsloo.

Mr Manqoba Mseleka, the academy’s head soccer coach, also runs a soccer academy in Louis Trichardt. “Rubbing shoulders with soccer professionals from the English Premier League was a great experience. This will have an impact on sporting careers. We learnt a lot from this coaching clinic and will be training children from the age of six and older,” said Mseleka.

Two of the other coaches, Mr Answered Msuma and Mr Christian Tshayingoma, echoed Mseleka’s sentiments, saying that they would like to see their students play for some of the country’s big teams, and even oversees teams.

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