Woman opens academy

A NEW soccer academy to be known as the Jo-Ann Soccer Development Programme was launched on Tuesday at the Windhoek College of Education in Khomasdal.

The football academy is the brainchild of Jo-Ann Thys and is the first in the country to be undertaken by a woman. Thys possesses a wealth of knowledge of the game and has attended coaching courses under the auspices of the Namibia Football Association (NFA).She has also travelled to Cape Town in South Africa to gain more knowledge at various coaching seminars.Thys said the idea of establishing a soccer academy came about a few years ago while attending coaching courses in South Africa.”We need this for the future of our soccer.It is not only soccer development; we will also look at leadership, self-belief, self-control and motivation of the youngsters as well as teaching them how to play as a team,” said Thys.She said she was hoping to nurture and develop the technical skills of these young footballers by instilling discipline so that they can become national and international players in the future.In five years’ time, Thys hopes to see her initiative gain momentum by establishing similar academies in various parts of the country.NFA Technical Director Seth Boois, who attended the launch, thanked Thys for having embarked on such a move.”We welcome this development.Jo-Ann is a product of the NFA technical development programme and we are encouraging all our coaches to start with such developments.The NFA will continue to assist and empower her to more coaching courses,” he said.Boois added that Thys will be the zonal coach of Khomasdal and will also be involved in all the schools in Khomasdal.The academy caters for boys and girls from the age of six to 14 and has currently registered 45 youngsters.namibiasport.com.naThys possesses a wealth of knowledge of the game and has attended coaching courses under the auspices of the Namibia Football Association (NFA).She has also travelled to Cape Town in South Africa to gain more knowledge at various coaching seminars.Thys said the idea of establishing a soccer academy came about a few years ago while attending coaching courses in South Africa.”We need this for the future of our soccer.It is not only soccer development; we will also look at leadership, self-belief, self-control and motivation of the youngsters as well as teaching them how to play as a team,” said Thys.She said she was hoping to nurture and develop the technical skills of these young footballers by instilling discipline so that they can become national and international players in the future.In five years’ time, Thys hopes to see her initiative gain momentum by establishing similar academies in various parts of the country.NFA Technical Director Seth Boois, who attended the launch, thanked Thys for having embarked on such a move.”We welcome this development.Jo-Ann is a product of the NFA technical development programme and we are encouraging all our coaches to start with such developments.The NFA will continue to assist and empower her to more coaching courses,” he said.Boois added that Thys will be the zonal coach of Khomasdal and will also be involved in all the schools in Khomasdal.The academy caters for boys and girls from the age of six to 14 and has currently registered 45 youngsters.namibiasport.com.na