London – Jonathan King and Reyaad Pieterse will be the first South Africans to join the prestigious Nike Academy in the United Kingdom from June 2011 with a year-long football contract, following the announcement of the top eight to emerge out of Nike’s global competition, The Chance.
As ‘The Chance’ entered its final day, the anticipation and desire to secure one of the eight places in the Nike Academy was palpable. The 32 players were divided into two teams and literally handed a field of dreams to showcase their talents. Inside an impressive stadium and on a pristine pitch the players had just under 75 minutes to stake their claim to the final eight, in what was the last opportunity to demonstrate they have what it takes.
Reyaad Pieterse, and 18-year-old goalkeeper from Johannesburg, said: “I am still in shock, feeling excited and nervous at the same time. This is such a special moment. I worked very hard for this chance to be in the Nike Academy, and finally, here I am. I had some tough competition from about four other goalies, and I know that we all worked hard, but I wanted this more and this motivated me to keep focused.”
Despite over 72 hours of demanding assessment from the coaches, nothing was held back on the pitch as the players gave every ounce of energy in a fiercely competitive game. It was evident that every player knew this would be their last chance to catch the eyes of the coaching staff. None of the players could be accused of not giving it their all, leaving the pitch with legs weary, chests heavy but hopes high.
“I paced myself since we arrived in London, and the freezing weather did not help me much, but I was so always determined to make my mark, and I got noticed by the selectors during the training sessions. I gave my all in the final games, pushing myself hard because I wanted this chance so badly, and now I have a signed contract with the Nike Academy – this is amazing”, said 17-year old Jonathan King, a right back.
King and Pieterse joined six other players from around the world, including: Mustapha Taline (France); Seon-Min Moon (Korea); Fabio Tonini (Belgium); Tobi Amokeodo (United Kingdom); Titi Accam (United Kingdom) and Tomas Rogic (Australia).
“The high quality on show in the final day of matches was great to see and it gave myself and the other staff a real challenge in deciding on the final 8. We made our decision after long discussions but feel that we have selected 8 players who have the best chance of realising their dreams of becoming professional football players”, Huw Jennings.
‘The Chance’ is a global search for elite amateur players to join the Nike Academy in London, and was launched by Nike with Arsene Wenger in Soweto, Johannesburg in June 2010. More than 74,000 footballers from around the world participated in open trials hosted in 41 countries participating in the competition, with only 100 players making the grade to progress to the finals of this competition in the United Kingdom.
The selectors have had the arduous task of selecting and noticing 32 players within 48 hours to progress to the final round of matches. During this phase of the competition, the selectors were looking for players who could adapt to the fast paced game in demonstrating playing for a team while showing off individual excellence.
Says Seruscka Naidoo, Nike South Africa Communications Manager: “Nike South Africa is very proud of having two players from our country in the top eight. This is a great achievement for the boys, and moreover, for our core team of football specialists who engaged with Nike to help us enable our players to become better. We unearthed talent from all over South Africa basing our selection criteria on footballers who needed to have the fundamentals of the game, while we further helped them to master it with coaching programmes. It’s evident that this has been a success as we have not only the best, but also two South African’s receiving a contract that will change their lives.”
At the final dinner on Saturday evening, all the players then got the chance to meet another football legend, Dutch international Giovanni Van Bronkhorst. The ex Barcelona and Arsenal star took time to meet the players before finally rounding off an exciting three days by helping to announce the successful Final 8. In an emotional final ceremony the dreams of 8 players took one more giant step towards reality as the following players secured a place in next season’s Nike Academy.
Today marked the start of a new journey to elevate their game. – Supplied