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Mandla Ncube, Sports Reporter
AS Thulani “Biya” Ncube sat in front of residents this past week in an awards ceremony, there was some satisfied realisation that this academy, four years after opening its doors, was fast becoming more than just a football school of learning.
The Biya and Friends Academy has grown in leaps and bounds and so has the love and support from the Luveve community. Gradually, the academy has become a theatre of dreams for many young kids who dare dream of playing professional football someday.
At a time when the youths are making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, the Biya and Friends Academy is taking the bull by its horns in carving a brighter future for children balancing football and education.
Realising that some dreams suffer a still birth when these children grow old or get injured, the academy has taken it upon itself to monitor academic progression of the youngsters in the academy.
“Football as a sport we know is a short career, if you’re unfortunate you get hurt and that career is over but with education you can use that knowledge from now till the end of time,” said Australia-based academy director, Thulani Khumalo.
Feeling indebted to the community of Luveve and surrounding areas, the Biya and Friends Academy, under the biting economic climate has managed to put smiles back on to a couple of family faces extending its hands beyond the football pitch to lessen the burden on parents whose children are academically excelling by offering scholarships to cater for 2020 fees.
The academy’s philanthropic work in the community of Luveve typifies the great African saying that “it takes a whole village to raise a child”, a role which they have approached without aplomb.
“We are happy about this, you just don’t know a child’s destiny from the onset but it’s things like these that bring joy to us as parents,” said Tutsirai Tshuma whose son Personage Tshuma, is a beneficiary.
Many former players tend to forget where they come from but not Biya, living overseas but what is clear is that his heart is at home. His struggles growing up as a talented soccer player and his travels around the world have taught him lessons, he is trying to impart into his soccer academy.
The introduction of the girls team in the academy at the beginning of the year was testament enough of its intentions to curb youth involvement in drug abuse, a task which pleases Biya’s international partners.
“The fact that they have a girls’ team that’s really big for people in the US, it’s something we want to see here,” said Rob Cain, Plainfield Soccer Academy president.
Having a girls’ team has given many girls a fresh purpose in life, a purpose which the girls’ captain, Nicole Letter, acknowledges has kept her occupied.
“The fact that I spend most of my time here has allowed me to be occupied with something worthwhile and I don’t get caught up doing the wrong things like other girls out there,” she said.
At the rate at which Biya and Friends is growing and a community bond created, it is increasingly becoming a Biya family, a family which Biya and friends are glad to look after.
— @MaroezayMVP
Bongani Ndlovu