LaLiga Camps who have partnered with international football youth organization IBERCUP for the next three years to host football camps in South Africa have been inundated with young players around the country wanting to participate in the first camp to be run in Johannesburg from the 23rd to the 29th of August 2021.
The LaLiga Camps IBERCUP project has also received massive support from major consumer brands,key stakeholders and organisations responsible for the development of youth through sport.In the build-up to the week of the LaLiga camps taking place at St Stithians College, IBERCUP are proud to announce the inclusion as guests of honour at the inaugural launch on the 26th of August, representatives from the South African Football Association, the Gauteng Provincial Government and Special Olympics to participate on stage at the event.
“Since launching there have been over 2500 requests from players all over the country to register for the camps. Due to Covid protocols we’ve had to restrict the registration to 120 players from the ages of u10 to u18 for both male and female players. I am proud to say that with our consumer brand partners we have been able to cover the costs of 70 players and 40 coaches to attend the camps, and we intend providing the same for Cape Town in November and Durban in December. This is only the start and we will expand the project to reach all corners of the country to identify talent and give players and coaches the opportunity to participate in international football projects. We are confident that with the inclusion of SAFA, Gauteng Provincial Government Sports, Arts & Culture and Special Olympics, we will deliver sustainable international football projects which will assist in developing our youth through football for the next five years,” said
Michael Bender CEO IBERCUP.
The LaLiga Camps players clinic will be run over five days from the 23rd to the 27th of August with three LaLiga UEFA Pro Licence coaches and five local coaches as assistants and they will arrive in the country on the 22nd of August 2021. The coaches clinic will run on the 28th and 29th of August 2021 and 20 SAFA coaches have been included in the camp to further develop their ability to leverage the Spanish coaching values and methodology.
The partnership with IBERCUP is groundbreaking not only for our athletes but for our coaches as well.It will enable them to benefit from the coaching and skills development offered by the international football powerhouse – an opportunity they would never have had otherwise. It will also allow them to participate in IBERCUP, and hopefully for some, to take their rightful place on the playing fields of international football.
We commend IBERCUP for their commitment to inclusive sport and the athletes of Special Olympics. We hope that other sporting organisations in South Africa follow suit, and we look forward to the day when all sport, and our society as a whole, is truly inclusive.” – Dr Mathews Phosa SOSA Chairman.
