Kasungu soccer academy partners German coach

Kasungu-based Chisomo Football Academy has partnered with German youth trainer Valentin Donath to restructure the entity’s operation system and incorporate an under-seven team.

Donath, a coach at Berlin-based Viktoria Mitte Football Club, on Wednesday said there is need for academy football structures to start from the under-seven level if football standards are to improve in the country.

Donath, a coach at Berlin-based Viktoria Mitte Football Club, on Wednesday said there is need for academy football structures to start from the under-seven level if football standards are to improve in the country.

Currently, the academy and others in the country develop talents from the under-10 level, but Donath said he believes that children struggle to learn a lot of techniques, coordination and movements at that age.

“A lot of techniques need to be understood at a very tender age, hence, the need to have an under-seven age bracket in the academy football system,” he said after his week-long sojourn at Chisomo Academy.

“Between the ages of three and seven, children are fast learners and they do not forget easily. Moreover, the children’s first experience with the ball is crucial in football talent development. Therefore, the nurturing of talent should start at a very tender stage.”

 Chisomo Academy owner Honest Nkhwazi, who was one of the coaches at the defunct Surestream Academy in Blantyre, said he is confident that the academy’s partnership with the European coach would help to improve football standards.