(Photograph) - Football students from South Nottingham college will travel to South Africa to compete in a prestigious under-19 youth tournament in Capetown.
The college takes part in the event in April for the second year running.
While they are there, the students will run coaching sessions for more than 1,000 local children. The students also raise funds for coaching South African children in a campaign called “Balls to poverty”.
The team hopes to repeat its success in 2005 when it reached the quarter-finals in an event that was won by Ajax Capetown, a feeder club for Dutch team Ajax Amsterdam.
The trips are the brainchild of South Nottingham college director of football Joe Sargison, who first coached in Johannesburg two years ago.
He said: “I was really touched by my visit to South Africa and wanted to give something back. I had footballs left over from Euro 2004 and wanted to distribute them in a way that would involve our students. When the offer came for the college to take part in the tournament, I thought the whole trip would have an incredible and long-lasting effect on our students.”
The football students get up to 10 hours of coaching a week alongside their studies on conventional courses. Their trip is sponsored by the union Amicus. Photograph by STEVE HILL
