New league to match academies’ talents

POLOKWANE – THE debate about which football development academy in Polokwane is the best will be settled when 14 football academies battle for supremacy in the newly launched Polokwane Local Football Association (Polfa) development league, which will kick-off on Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon, two academies, the Limpopo Sports School of Excellence (LSSE) and Nubian Kings played a warm-up game at the Polokwane Cricket Club in preparation for the much anticipated development league, which will feature u/13, u/15 and u/17 divisions.

LSSE beat Nubian Kings 2-1 and 1-0 in the u/15 and u/17 matches respectively. The u/13 match between

LSSE and Old Rock FC from Moletjie Magodu ended with LSSE winning 3-1.

Director of football at LSSE, Hendrick Mukwevho, said his players were ready to do battle for top honours in the development league.

“The time has come for our strength to be tested in a league. It is also an opportunity to prove to ourselves that we are indeed the best academy when it comes to developing players.

“The results will do the talking,” said Mukwevho.

His counterpart at Nubian Kings, Rod Tshoane, said he was still finding his feet at the academy and the results of the friendly matches, like the ones played on Saturday, were not important.

“This is my second week with the academy and I am still familiarising myself with the players. We are forming new combinations to get the players used to my methods and philosophy. We will be ready by the time the league kicks off. Any league is a marathon and we will need the heart to endure for at least 26 matches,” he said.

Other academies that will take part in the Polfa development league are Molemole Academy, Peace United, Phumelela Academy, Polokwane United, Polokwane Youth Academy, Polokwane Royal Football Academy, Sparks Academy, Lions Academy and Leopards Express Academy.