It cannot be disputed that the future belongs to the youth. This is also true for football.
Nurturing talent from a young age has always been key to the success of any football club but in most African Countries this has not been taken with the seriousness it deserves.
Manchester United who is one of the most successful teams in the World and arguably the most supported team Worldwide last December made a remarkable record in term’s producing home-grown talent as they reached a new milestone in the club’s clash with Everton at Old Trafford, The match was the 4000th consecutive game in which the club had fielded an academy graduate in their matchday squad. This shows how important the issue of nurturing talent is World over.
However, there is no golden rule on how to develop young players into the football stars of tomorrow. Some clubs nature there own talent while other nurture talents for others and make it their major business.
MC Galaxy Academy is one such club that is purely dedicated to nurturing talent. The Academy which has an under-18 team that plays in the FAZ Lusaka division four league is dedicated to nurturing talent from as low as six-year-olds.
The ZamFoot Crew had a sit down with the man behind the MC Galaxy Academy, MacDonald Yande Chembeya to get an insight into what brought about the idea of starting an academy purely dedicated to nurturing talent.
“Basically MC Galaxy Football Academy was born out of the passion for the beautiful game and the desire to pay back to the sport that has given me so much entertainment over the years by way of contributing to its growth in Zambia and the African continent and through it better the lives of the Zambian youths,” Chembeya told the ZamFoot Crew.
Chembeya says the vision of the Academy is to identify and nurture talent regardless of the players’ background and circumstances giving equal opportunities to all to access the service being offered.
The vision is to see MC Galaxy developing well trained, disciplined and determined footballers who will contribute to the advancement of the sport in Zambia and the African continent. We shall identify talent and nurture it regardless of the circumstances of the talented individual-Chembeya
When asked about challenges the Academy is facing Chembeya says a permanent venue as they are still renting but have found a home at Napsa Sports Complex at the moment.
“The biggest challenge we face right now as an academy is to find a suitable long term venue. We have moved venues about 3 times due to program clashes with our hosts since we are still renting. We are now at NAPSA Sports Complex where we have acquired relative stability than before and we hope we can be here for the longest time.”
The under 18 team who were leading the FAZ Lusaka division, four league, before losing to Red Lions over the weekend are expected to drop to either second or third place.
For the young boys and girls Saturday training which is open all the kids but attracts a small fee, It could take place on Saturday morning due to bad weather conditions.
I’d love to enroll in your academy so please get back to me