LaLiga soccer coaches train youngsters in Randburg

Budding soccer stars had a blast at a LaLiga Camp driven by two Spanish-based LaLiga professional licensed coaches.

Tony Alvarez and Luis Martinez were assisted by six local coaches as they directed training at St Stithians College, Lyme Park, from August 23 to 29.

A whopping 120 children came from all over Gauteng to play, including from Soweto, Alexandra, Mamelodi, Katlehong, Randburg, Sandton, East Rand and some even came from Durban.

Managing director of LaLiga in Southern Africa, Marcos Pelegrin said the knowledge these international coaches could share was invaluable, but the main thing he wanted children to take away from it was to have fun.

“I hope they will have fun as they develop their skills,” he told Randburg Sun.

“These children are from different backgrounds and some of them have been sponsored to attend. It is also good for them to see that once they are on the pitch they are on the same team, they are together and they can play as one.”

CEO of Ibercup SA, Michael Bender agreed this was a great opportunity for players from less privileged backgrounds to engage in an international soccer camp.

“We want to share the LaLiga methodology and value system with the local coaches to start building a sustainable legacy programme that can be introduced into the communities,” he said.

“We hope the children have a higher level of appreciation for the LaLiga training and playing system, more importantly is to see them adopt the training methods to improve themselves in the game. We want the children to adopt the values and become pillars of their community as the next generation of leaders.”

On one of the days, a press conference was held and some dignitaries were able to see for themselves what the players were learning.

These included Gauteng MEC for Sport, Art, Culture and Recreation, Mbali Hlophe, Special Olympics South Africa chairperson Dr Mathews Phosa and Spain’s ambassador in South Africa, Carlos Fernandez-Arias Minuesa.