Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Old Mutual Academy looks to build on its 15 years of footballing success
THE Old Mutual Academy celebrates 15 years of football excellence this year. It is not only a testament to the institution’s diligence and perseverance, but also a reminder of the development vision of Frank Lord, the Englishman who made an invaluable contribution to football in the Mother City.
Lord, who passed away in June 2005, is still fondly remembered for his stellar work as the coach of the old Cape Town City in the whitealigned National Football League (NFL). After the unification of football in South Africa, he focused particularly on youth development in under-privileged areas – and so it was that, along with Barry Bush, the Old Mutual Academy was founded in 2002.
Throughout the 15 years of sweat and success, Bush has been the driving force, the bundle of committed energy on which the Academy operates. He gave some insight into how it all came about.
“At the time, Frank was working for Manchester United,” Bush said. “The aim was giving talented young footballers, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, the opportunity of developing into professional players by way of quality coaching at an excellent facility like we have at Old Mutual, in an environment conducive to development.
“There are hundreds of talented young footballers in the Western Cape, but very few of them get the opportunity to develop their talent due to a serious lack of development structures.”
The Academy, based in Pinelands, has squads in age groups from U12 to U18, with training taking place from Mondays to Thursdays and matches are on Saturdays. The teams all compete in the Cape Town Tygerberg District. The current head coach is Rusdi Harris, who has a CAF B licence and is the Safa U21 head coach as well.
Also on board is the wellknown Noel Cousins, who is the Academy’s senior coach. Cousins was a legend as a player, plundering goals at will for Arcadia Shepherds and Moroka Swallows in the 1980s. As a coach, Cousins is strongly committed to development and has worked in the junior structures of Ajax Cape Town, Mamelodi Sundowns, Vasco da Gama and Stellenbosch/Maties.
“We also have scouts in various areas who identify players for us to assess,” added Bush. “We have open trials yearly, which are attended by hundreds of players from all over Cape Town and beyond. We receive many requests from all over South Africa on a daily basis for trial opportunities.”
Earlier this month, the Academy won the Cape Town leg of the popular Engen Under-17 tournament for the second year running when they beat Ajax Cape Town 1-0 in the final at Parow Park. Jermaine George got the winner, while goalkeeper Matthew Carelse was brilliant and afterwards named as the Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
Cousins took charge of the team for the triumph, and said: “Preparation for the event was ongoing and that started at the beginning of the year. I used the Bayhill play-offs as a marker as to where we were as a team and what we needed to work on going forward, I also used it as a stepping stone to reach a level that would be good enough to compete at the Engen.
“Every week leading up to the tournament, we had a specific topic, like the defensive organisation which every player had to be involved in to understand the team dynamics and the tactical approach we were going to use,” added Cousins.
For Bush, the Academy’s consistent elevation at the Under-17 tournament is a glowing example of the pride they take in their work.
“I think the success of the Academy has been due to building it one step at a time and working within our limitations,” said Bush. “We stress to our players the importance of education as well as the values of discipline, humility and respect, and we build up amazing loyalty from players and their families.”
As to the future, the Academy is already hard at work to make the next 15 years just as rewarding and successful.
“Our long term goal remains to continue producing players to the level where they are ready for professional football,” said Bush. “In the last year, we have had graduates from the Academy move to clubs like Bidvest Wits, Cape Town City and Orlando Pirates. Brooklyn Poggenpoel and Jamie Craak have signed contracts with Wits.
“Two of our current players, Jermaine George (16) and Riyaaz Nel (18), went to top Turkish club Galatasaray in May for two weeks of assessment, and Jermaine has been invited back for a final assessment in a few months’ time.
“We also believe strongly in community involvement and have an ongoing project in Wesbank near Kuils River, an impoverished area with major gang and drug related problems. We have done coaching clinics for players and coaches, provided food, and collected boots and equipment from our Academy families, which we handed over to the local club as well as kit from the Academy. Our aim is to extend this project to other areas as well.”