Last Updated on June 29, 2022
As you aspiring to become a footballer, do you want to join the best football academy in South Africa? This informative article is for you.
There is a lot of information out there explaining what to do to join a football academy in South Africa, much of this information is opinions or personal experiences from people but how should you really go about this process? What different ways are there to be part of an academy and showcase your talents? What can you do to finally get a team, where you can develop and go into the next level of professional football?
We have created a guide to answering these questions once and for all, after reading the full guide you will have a very clear idea of what you have to do to get into a football club.
Obviously, there are many ways to get into a football academy in South Africa and a professional club, but what are the most reliable go-to ways to do this?
Table of Contents
How To Join A Football Academy In South Africa For Free
We have come up with the 4 ultimate ways to join a football academy in South Africa for free. If you follow these steps you will be on your way to getting a professional football and playing in a football academy in South Africa.
1. Getting scouted while you play football
This is a way to join a football academy in South Africa for free. However, it’s the least likely one. Simply because you need a lot of luck. This is sometimes described as climbing the ladder to the top.
You basically join any soccer team regardless of the level. When you play, you will always have the chance of showing your skills and abilities.
“This is the beauty of football, everyone has the chance to play, everyone has the chance to showcase themselves and succeed.”
If you are different, with abilities that overshadow the other players and perform correctly in the soccer field, there will always be a chance of someone seeing you and wanting to sign you.
Keep in mind that these abilities have to be trained, for example, if you want to be fast and impress scouts, you need to do speed training drills and exercises! Things don’t come just because of ‘talent’.
After being scouted you will normally be invited to attend football academy trials in South Africa. As Arsene Wenger once said, you never know who is watching!
These can be football scouts actively looking for players or simply someone who is watching your game by coincidence and is impressed by your abilities.
Normally, the person interested will try to contact you, your parents, or most commonly your football coach. From there on, there is normally a football trial or even signing straight away
Another way this can happen is by your football coach. The coach in your team might know people or might have had a past in football and valuable contacts, so, if you impress and clearly show you are too good for the current level, many times your coach will identify this and help you on.
Surprisingly this happens very often, as coaches in smaller clubs want you to succeed and have a career in football. Sometimes, coaches might send you to football clinics or soccer camps in South Africa to show your talents.
2. Getting a football agent
Similar to football scouts, the job of agents is to actively search for football talent and find them a soccer team. However, differently, from soccer scouts, agents also take care of other parts like contracts and salaries. Normally, this is where they will take their fee.
But going back to the point of joining a soccer club, agents are people with contacts, a lot of contacts. So, when you manage to impress an agent, they can be a helpful person because they can arrange trials or football scouts to come and watch you play.
They normally are very eager to do this because this is the nature of their business. If you succeed they succeed, and get a profit, ah. Everyone wins.
Normally, an agent will help you once you are already part of a soccer club. However, there are a lot of agents or even people who have been part of football clubs and academies in the past that might not be actively looking for talents but if they see someone with special abilities they might be interested in helping.
PRO TIP: Always try to record your football games, or just yourself playing football. This way, you can contact football agents by email and send them your video. You might be surprised by the number of agents that contact back. Especially, if you are already in a good level club, or if you look very good in your video.
3. Contact the club straight away
There are three simple ways to do this:
- Get hold of an email from the club
- Get the details of anyone who works in the club.
- Have an agent or a person who knows people in the club.
As explained in our PRO TIP, if you sent a straightforward, well-written email with your details, information, and most importantly, a video, there is a possibility you get a response.
But keep in mind that, of all the ways to join a football academy, this is the least likely one. But is a great chance to join a football academy for free without any agent fees.
4. Join a specialized academy that trains you and finds trials for you
A specialized academy will improve you as a player and do the hard work of finding a team for you. Opposite to the last point, this is the most likely way you can succeed in joining an actual Pro Football Club Academy anywhere in the world.
Best Football Academies In South Africa
There are several football academies in South Africa that trains footballers, these academies includes;
1. Football Academy Plus
The academy commenced operations in January 2018 and is geared towards bridging the gap between grassroots and professional football players. Enrolling with the academy will have you enjoying training with UEFA qualified staff that have a track record of developing top-notch players.
The academy started in Cape Town, and today, they have branches in Johannesburg, Polokwane, Lesotho, the Garden Route, Pretoria, and Pietermaritzburg. They train children between 10 and 19 years and aim to bridge the gap between playing amateur football and professional football.
2. African Brothers Football Academy
The academy is geared to ensure there is a sustainable football development through promoting social entrepreneurship.
They aim at improving school facilities, creating safe havens for the community and schools, and also ensuring environmentally friendly field management.
3. Bidvest Wits Academy
The academy commenced operations in 2009. The club aims at producing talented and high standard players. So far, they have managed to raise shining stars such as Lebogang Phiri.
This has been achieved by creating a positive environment for nurturing the players, coaching, and educating them to reach their full potential.
4. Diambars Football Academy
The academy was founded by teammates Bernard Lama and Jimmy Adjovi-Boco. Their passion and goal were to give back to society through developing a school where children would embrace sports in education.
The school’s ambition and aim are to create a community centre where young ones get a chance to socialize and share their passion for sports easily.
5. Total Football Academy
The school offers a diverse and enriched learning environment for the players. Their main objective is to develop the players into highly skilled players that can dominate the games.
The academy provides training as well as matches each week through holistic programs. The best part about the school is that in only ten weeks, your child can develop unmatched skills.
6. Young Bafana Soccer Academy
This academy is a non-governmental organization. It provides a holistic development program for young ones with a history of socially disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa. The school is home to six teams and about a hundred and sixty children. They also aim at bringing to a halt the negative vicious cycle of poverty through sports and education.
7. Liverpool FC International Academy South Africa
The LFC international academy was launched in South Africa in 2016. The schools are located in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. The programs offer either two or three training sessions in a week against other local clubs. The school’s objective is to make sure that players get enriched with new techniques that will enable them to become better footballers.
8. Prestige Football Development Academy
The school was founded in 2011. It is geared towards equipping young players who have a passion for sports with high-end sports skills. The coaches involved are well experienced and professionals to ensure that they provide the best training.
9. Stars of Africa Football Academy
The school is geared towards providing holistic development to the footballers. This is achieved by focusing on both their personal and social lives. The academy carries out dire evaluation and skills development to match the players’ preparations and games. They also aid in discovering new talent that is crucial for the vital development of the player.
10. Bryanston Warriors Football Club
The academy was founded in 2012 under the Jurisdiction of the Rand Central Local Football Association. The teams involved compete within the Rand Central Football League. The club is a non-profit organization that is operated by a team of ExCo members that are elected. Their objective is to provide an environment where the players can display their abilities and skills and still enjoy the game.
11. SuperSport United Soccer Schools
The school was established in 2000 to help young soccer aspirants to reach their potential. The players are aged between 12 years and above and are involved in various types of matches such as friendlies, trails, league fixtures, and tournaments. The academy also ensures that the players are equipped with formal education.
12. Football Academy Plus Honeydew
The academy offers its players a chance to train with the best coaches. They also provide opportunities where players get a chance to attend trials and showcase their talents and gain new skills.
13. Samba Soccer Academy
This is a youth sports development organization that is geared towards promoting the participation of young talented people in team sports. This is especially the case for children in primary schools who are between the ages of 5 and 15. The kids can access top-notch facilities and coaching services.
14. Siyadlala Football Academy
The academy is geared towards imparting skills development through various youth programs. The school aims at growing its participants from a domestic level to an international level.
15. Football Academy Plus Protea Park
The school has been in operation since 2008 and offers top-class soccer training quality education. It provides expertise development training for players between the ages of 8 and eighteen years. Once the players gain the required skills, they are moved to pro clubs and also abroad.
16. ONE10SPORT Football Academy
The academy is geared towards producing the country’s next best players, managers, and coaches. The school’s motto is giving 110% to their students to bring out quality. The technical sessions are delivered by UEFA Accredited coaches to ensure that the players learn from the best.
Why footballers are paid so much?
Players are being paid increasingly high wages because the clubs are making more money than ever. As a result of globalization and technological advances such as the pay-TV market, football has become more popular and so more profitable.
Is it a good idea to join a football academy?
Academies should certainly be viewed as a place for elite footballers and any child or parent who is asked to join should be extremely proud and excited! Without question, they can be one of the best environments for children to develop and have the best opportunity of making it in the game.
How To Become A Professional Footballer In South Africa.
1 Have Passion For the Game
2. Possess Some Basic Skills
3. Attend a Football Training Academy
4. Land a Contract!
What is the maximum age to join a football academy?
A player must be at least nine years old to join an Academy, but many clubs – such as Arsenal – have development groups that cater to even younger players.