Johannesburg footballers impress at Olympiacos FC open trials
Player development and player growth are at the forefront of Olympiacos FC Johannesburg, with an opportunity for growth into Europe.
Community-driven football club Olympiacos FC Johannesburg conducted its recruitment trials on February 22 at the Greek Sporting Club in Bedfordview. Chairman Lucas Ioannides explained that the club is affiliated with Olympiacos FC of Greece.
“We work very closely with them. We receive the training manuals and training methodologies from Greece, and so we are able to apply European standards of training for our South African players in order to give them the best chance to develop,” said Ioannides.
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On the day, the club held open trials for its U14, U15, U17 and U19 groups. Ioannides said there was a very good turnout with close to 80 players arriving.
They were put through their paces for 1 hour 30 minutes and rotated through various trials with different coaches.
“We had 12 coaches who looked at different groups at different times. Eventually, we narrowed it down to 34 players that we have invited back from the guys that came,” said Ioannides. He added that those players will join the Olympiacos team going forward.
Ioannides said, “We saw some wonderful, hidden talent here. Players come from all our surrounding communities but do not really have that much opportunity in a formal club like ours. They play a lot of informal street football and are wonderfully talented but need to also learn the structured side of the game without losing their natural flair.”
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He stressed that player development and growth are at the forefront of all that they do and highlighted the opportunity for special talents to progress to Europe.
One player went to Greece last year on a trial and was highly rated by the coaches. He will be monitored annually by Olympiacos scouts and, for now, will stay with Olympiacos Johannesburg, with another assessment planned in a year.
“The idea for us is to give the boys as many opportunities to be coached and trained in the methods of Olympiacos.”
The club admits players from five-year-olds to 19-year-olds and welcomes any player in these age groups.
They are currently looking for boys and girls aged 6, 7 and 8. Training takes place every Monday and Wednesday at 5 pm.
For enquiries call Evi on 083 444 3166.
