Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Roy-Keane of Atlantis is a footballing ace
APTLY-named Roy-Keane Avontuur was born to play football, and it is what the 14-year-old from Atlantis has been doing for 10 years.
Similar to Bafana Bafana and former Ajax Cape Town star Rivaldo Coetzee, who was named after Brazilian legend Rivaldo, Roy-Keane was named after former Manchester United and Ireland captain Roy Keane.
Keane, as his teammates call him, started playing football at Atlantis Athletico FC aged four and has been piling up the trophies and medals ever since.
But, he said his proudest moment was playing for South Africa at Under-17 level against Lesotho at the 2017 4-Nations Cup, aged 14.
This year, Roy-Keane, a Grade 8 pupil at Robinvale
High in Atlantis, made the
Copa Coca-Cola 2017 National Under-15 team and the Western Cape Schools Team 2017, as well as received the Copa CocaCola player of the tournament 2017, Cape Town Tygerberg player of the year, Robinvale High School player of the year, top goal scorer of the year and players’ player of the year awards.
Roy-Keane, who now plays for Hellenic FC, also has provincial colours in hurdles.
Needless to say, his parents, Leonette and Mario, are “humbled and proud” of what their son has achieved.
Roy-Keane, who is a striker with a talent for linking play and scoring with both feet, said: “I hope to play professional soccer one day, if it’s in God’s master plan. Manchester United will be my first choice.
“Paul Pogba at Manchester United is my favourite player because he is good with the ball at his feet and has good vision where and who to pass to.”
With great admiration for local sides Hellenic FC, SuperSport United and Cape Town City FC, Roy-Keane said he was happy at Hellenic, “learning about the game every day and meeting new friends”.
He hoped his achievements would encourage others to “focus on the positive things and to overcome all the negative stuff ” and “to keep on dreaming”.
Although he had not encountered the gang violence that plagued his Atlantis neighbourhood, Roy-Keane was aware of “how it destroyed young talented okes (guys)”.
Atlantis sports promoter Tashwell Adams said RoyKeane’s achievement was a story of hope for 2018, considering that the youngster has no sports sponsorship.