He uses sports as a vehicle to encourage education
Like other academies, Emhlangeni has also overcome many challenges since its conception, especially on transport issues, and with the help of local business people and the support of the parents they have managed to get where they are today, and have even hosted their annual awards successfully.
“We wanted to divorce them from all the things tempting teenagers such as substance abuse by forming a sports academy,” said founder and CEO of Emhlangeni sports academy, Sibusiso Mhlanga.
The academy was established in January before the 2010 Fifa World Cup and has been a home to 106 boys, aged from five to 22 years.
They come from all different corners of South Africa and neighbouring countries. “I used to see these young boys playing unorganised football on the streets and I felt it was dangerous for many of them as they used to play on busy streets,” he said.
He added that he feared for their lives and that was what triggered him to create a safe place where they could practice their love for football freely and that was how the academy came about. The potential he saw in the boys made the 24-year-old leave his teaching career to pursue one in sports management and community development.
“Taking them from the streets was a way of showing them that within themselves they harboured the talent to become professional footballers,” he said.
Like other academies, Emhlangeni has also overcome many challenges since its conception, especially on transport issues, and with the help of local business people and the support of the parents they have managed to get where they are today, and have even hosted their annual awards successfully.
The awards are a way of appreciating the boys and motivating them to work very hard. “We had to fight so hard to earn trust from the parents of the boys, but through their support we are proud to say we have achieved a lot and we are still going to achieve more,” said Mhlanga.
The academy does not focus on sports only, but has been very concerned with the children’s education. They are also using the boarding house to encourage the boys to take education seriously as life skills and development are also on offer.
“We aim to produce professional footballers, but we also encourage great leadership, and on the reality is that not every one of them will be a professional footballer – that’s why we also look at their education first,” said Mhlanga.
He said it was also important to balance education with sport because at the end of the day as the two were very important to a child’s life. The academy management often visits the schools where the boys are currently studying to check how they are progressing with their schoolwork.
The academy urges everyone who has any knowledge of other sporting codes, to come join them, and the whole community is requested to support them when they have games.
