Soccer isn’t just a sport for Extension One boys

Juventus Sports Club is a club that has given six young boys the opportunity to have a career in soccer. These young boys’ ages range between 12-years-old and 14-years-old. Kaylin Steele, Curnick McKenzie, Ettienne Jones, Keano Britto, Ruben Davids and Ziaad Smith are the six boys who have qualified to play for Highlands Park Football Club (HPFC).

From November 1959 to February 1983 was the time that the HPFC originally existed. In 1971, HPFC merged with Powerlines FC from Nigel. But after playing only two seasons with the name Highlands Power FC in 1971 to 1972, the club decided to change back its name to the more well-known Highlands Park FC in 1973. In 2003 the club managed to create a second semi-professional Phoenix Club with the name Highlands Park FC. During the first four seasons, the reborn “Highlands Park FC” competed in the fourth tier of the South African football league, known as South African Football Association (SAFA) Regional League.

Out of an estimated 300 boys that took part in the trials at HPFC at the Balfour Park Stadium, Eldorado Park was fortunate enough to have six boys who qualified and they’re all from Extension One. The trials took place on December 2. The boys described the trials as extremely exciting but also very challenging. Britto said, “It was a bit tough but I was confident I was going to make it because I have faith in myself.”Davids said, “I was nervous but once I got into it, I was extremely focused and excited.”

The other boys had similar things to say but all of them were confident because soccer isn’t just a sport to these boys, it means everything to them. They said that they see themselves playing for teams in the big leagues such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid. One of the boys came up with a surprising answer as he said that he would like to see himself playing for a development team because he would like to become the best. The boys will start training and be playing for HPFC from January 2018.