The 2011 Gauteng Future Champions Talent Search programme gets under way

Forever Marketing – Maggie Sekoto

Johannesburg, Tuesday, 01 February 2011 – The 2011 Gauteng Future Champions Talent Search, to be run in association with the Gauteng Department of Education, gets under way on February 5 with the intention of uncovering the future stars of tomorrow!

The Talent Search is open to all learners in the province aged 14-16 and organisers are hopeful of having a total of 10 000 participants from the nine events, having topped the 6 000 mark last year.

The first Talent Search will be held at the Moletsane Sports Complex on Saturday for the Johannesburg Central and Johannesburg North districts, and will run every weekend until March 19.

The finals of the Talent Search will be held during the 2011 Gauteng Future Champions tournament that will be held from March 28 to April 2, where the top three young individuals will be chosen. The winners will embark on a trip of a lifetime overseas, where they will visit and train at a top international club.

Coaches who are already working in youth development in the province will be participating after being nominated by SAFA and will run their eye over the youngsters, cutting down the numbers until we get our final three.

The Talent Search, now in its third year, saw Soweto

  • 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