Celestial essence is heading to South Africa

It was the year 2001 when two South African brothers decided to found a football academy for children in evaton under the name Celta Vigo Development Center. The stage of his compatriot in the entity from Vigo Benny McCarthy He forced them to christen him that way, even though they had no relationship with that entity, with which they told La Voz in 2015 that they tried unsuccessfully to get in touch. Today the landscape is different. Both parties are bound by a cooperation agreement, the sponsor is Pereira, and three representatives of the South African school are currently in Vigo.

At the head of the expedition, Themba Dlamini, one of the founding brothers. Like his companions, this is the first time he has left his country, something he never thought he would have the chance to do. They absorb here Celtic methodology, but also new cultures. They do not lose detail about everything that comes their way, nor about the editorial office of the newspaper in which they recount their experience. “The people are very welcoming and the city is very safe,” unlike where they come from. being here is a A dream come true“, he says.

Since they landed, ahead of the match against Mallorca, they had a full schedule filled with football activities. They are shocked”seriously and professionally»That’s all in Celta’s everyday life, ever since training at the youth school. They were taught in and out of the club’s work, focusing on aspects that they will be able to apply in practice, such as how to deal with children or use resources, as well as methodology.

They explain that the club monitors their work and clears up any doubts that arise. Coordinator of International Heavenly Schools, Marcos Alonso Rial, was in Evaton a few months ago to assess what they did and how, which is a starting point to help them improve. they made them arrive manuals and contact is permanentwell, but now they have the opportunity to see it “with their own eyes”.

Each of the three South African technicians will take a suitcase with them material In perfect condition donated by youth players which includes jerseys, boots and socks. Except that the first deliveries to Celta started long before the signing of the contract with Pereira. “Many children play with shoe of each color, or one a size that is not yours“, specifies Dlamini, who also admits that now they feel “a little pressure per expectations set” in your project.

The agreement signed a few months ago also stipulates that they will be helped to improve some objects now very modest. It has a 20,000 square meter pitch, which is the equivalent of two 11 pitches and four 7 pitches. They say the first step will be to level it as the ground is very uneven and then put in two containers, one for the office and one for storage .

New illusions and call effect

The school technicians talk to the Celta kids and they all have recommendations for the team from Vigo. But it is impossible to watch the matches. “These are very small communities, some they don’t even have electricity at home, much less television,” says Themba. To this we must add that football is paid for, so among their aspirations is a small social place where they could watch matches together.

In an unfavorable area where sport is a way to prevent children get into “other things”, the Evaton school has always been an encouragement to children – currently there are about 170 of them. But with the step they have taken, more. “The illusion has grown now that they know that the school is connected to a Spanish Primera club. We believe it will continue to be a call effect“, he points out.

In addition, there is another incentive: scholarships so that some of their players could spend a few weeks training in Vigo. “Hopefully after that he can come back here and try to stand out,” he wants. The wishes they had already when they started school, but they were not achievable and now they can see much closer since they are part of the club from Vigo.

“We would like McCarthy to see what we have achieved”

The Celta Vigo Development Center began more than twenty years ago with absolute humility, but with ambition. “We never imagined we would have this connection with a Premier League team, but we thought we could still do it good quarry player. When you create something, you always think about how to make it work,” says Themba, who also admits that now, sometimes, he almost needs to be pinched to realize that everything that happened is real.

They would too Benny McCarthy was part of it. Because if it wasn’t for the South African who joined Celta in 1998, nothing that followed would have happened. “We are very grateful to him. We talked to him at one time, he really liked our idea and wanted to meet us”, he recalls. However, after he left for Manchester, they lost contact and the number they had was no longer his. “We would like you to see what we have achieved and give you too tribute. Because of what it meant for us and for football in our country,” he points out.

Dlamini adds that who knows if among his own about 200 children now they don’t have one or more McCarthy futures. “Maybe we have a little Benny among us who could come here to train. We are very grateful for how generous Celta and Pereira are towards us,” he emphasized.

Currently, they play in local leagues with teams from all basic categories, as well as the senior category, with the hope that they will go further in the future. The cost of transportation, even if it is not long distances, is one of the main disadvantages. The idea of ​​the school and the sponsor is that it is better to give small safe steps grow too fast and then have to regress.

sweet defeat

South African coaches lived in Celtic-Mallorca his first experience in a European stadium. They say it was “fantastic, although the result was not positive for the club”, because the islanders won 0:1. However, they recorded another experience that they will remember forever.