Forek Institute of Technology, situated in KaBokweni, is a private college that offers various artisanship and apprenticeship courses, such as electrical engineering, welding, plumbing, bookkeeping and financial management.

The college is accredited by quality assurance body Umalusi, the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.

Forek Institute of Technology’s chairperson, Fortune Sibiya, said the college decided to partner with MSE in order to ensure that young footballers have a 50/50 chance in life, in case their ambitions to be professional footballers do not materialise.

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“It is a fact that a career as a soccer player is very short. We are giving these young footballers something to fall back on at the end of their soccer careers, or something they can build on and grow while they are pursuing their soccer dreams. In case they cannot become professional players, they have valuable skills to make a living. It is a win-win situation,” Sibiya said.

He added that Forek Institute of Technology aimed to reach out and assist as many youngsters as possible in South Africa and beyond the borders. “As a corporate citizen, we have already initiated a number of Corporate Social Investment projects in the community of KaBokweni. This partnership will enable us to touch more lives from different parts of the province and the country at large,” Sibiya said.

This opportunity is open for any player from the age of 14 to 21 with a minimum grade nine pass. The bursaries will be full and partial, depending on the individual circumstances of each student player.

MSE is a registered non-profit company. It trains and develops young players from the age of nine with the aim of producing future professional footballers, coaches and other football-related professionals, while the immediate aim is to get youngsters focused on their education and to have less or no time at all to be exposed to social ills such as substance abuse and crime.

MSE’s director, Sizwe Yende, said, “We are very excited to have Forek on board. The benefits of this partnership with MSE are multipronged in that the football academy will now be able to offer services to players above 18 years not in a mainstream school, to boost our longstanding vision to produce educated footballers, to keep youngsters focused on educational development and also to give us more time to work with players a little longer.

“Players develop differently. Some are good and ready when they are 16 while others are slow and late bloomers, and are ready to play at a higher level when they are 19 or 20.”

Parents or guardians of footballers interested in this opportunity may contact MSE on these numbers: 079 528 9902/ 078 591 9895/065 924 0300.