Black Cats pass on skills

Despite their main sponsor, Bidvest, and other partners like South African Airways (SAA) and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund coming from this country, Sunderland won’t have a South African player in their ranks any time soon.

The English outfit held a coaching clinic at Parktown Boys’ High in Johannesburg on Monday, which benefited four disadvantaged schools from Soweto. On the same day the club’s Under-17 side went down 2-1 in their first match against Mamelodi Sundowns in the Future Champions Gauteng International Cup. Yesterday they played their second match against Indian outfit Royal Wahingdoh. “We are here to keep in touch with our sponsors since most of them are in Africa like Bidvest, SAA, KPMG and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund,” Sunderland’s head of international football development, Graham Robinson said. “We are here to make sure that they are catered for. But the main focus of this trip is to ensure we help in football development. In these coaching clinics we also invited the coaches who can carry on where we left of.

We are here mainly to pass on knowledge.” Meanwhile, Wits skipper Sibusiso Vilakazi has been in Denmark this week where he is training with Brondby. The Clever Boys and the Danish outfit have a relationship which has seen Wits players being assessed by Brondby with an intention of signing them. The main focus of this trip is to ensure we help in development. Graham Robinson Sunderland

  • We had a wonderful football and cultural experience in Gauteng. The tournament and activities were very well organized and we found everyone involved extremely helpful and accommodating. We have all returned home with fantastic memories of our time in South Africa, both on and off the pitch, and have made many new friends as a result of the trip. I hope that we are invited to participate in future tournaments.

    Everton Academy Head Coach

  • The experience both on and off the field for our players during the Future Champions tournament in Gauteng was life-enriching for all those who participated. We were privileged enough to win this edition but what will be bringing us back in future is the cross-cultural education our players receive from spending time with athletes from all over the world. They are human beings before they are football players and enriching them with other cultures is as rewarding as the experience they receive on the field.

    Club Tijuana Director of Football

  • After twenty years of experiencing tournaments around the globe, Future Champions is hands down the best organized, well run International Tournament we have ever participated in. Bringing teams from dozens of different countries provided our boys exposure to cultural diversity they only read about in textbooks. It’s amazing how sport can be the cultural link that provides the opportunity to interact with each other and discover that our global community is a bit smaller than they realized. We had a football and cultural experience that will be cherished for the rest of our lives.

    Director of USYSA Select

  • For us to compete in Future Champions is much more than playing a series of matches. It is an opportunity to compete and contrast our level against the best teams from around the world and the possibility of living in another culture and environment for an unforgettable week, learning about the history of the fight for human rights.

    Director of Aspire Academy

  • The addition of a girls’ competition this year is a natural expansion for what has become a hugely popular event. Over and above the football, the players are also exposed to life-skills courses and HIV/AIDS awareness that could end up saving their lives in the future. We have had an amazing partnership with the Gauteng Province over the last decade and we thank each and every stakeholder for making the Future Champions Gauteng campaign such a huge success

    Tournament director