adminEddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
REAL Betis Academy Zimbabwe are set to embark on a dream tour of Spain today where a group of budding football players will be afforded life-changing opportunities under the auspices of Spanish La Liga side, Real Betis Balompie.
The academy confirmed that a total of 24 players between the ages of nine and 18 years will be accompanied by three academy coaches on the 10-day trip to the La Liga headquarters.
Real Betis Academy Zimbabwe director, Gerald Sibanda, said it is a dream come true for the young players, most of whom have never come close to the level of professionalism found at top European clubs.
“It’s a dream come true for the youngsters to see the reality of going to Spain for the tour come to reality,” said Sibanda.
“We have been in Zimbabwe for the past three years. It’s one thing training but it’s another different world when you are actually going to a Spanish La Liga club and training for seven days.
“It’s a dream come true for the boys and everybody involved with us, including our sponsors.”
The football nursery, which has bases in Harare and Bulawayo, is an offshoot of the Spanish La Liga football side. The youngsters will get to experience firsthand the bits and tits of being professionals during their 10-day stay in Seville, the city Betis are based.
Sibanda said it is more of “an educational trip, full of training, assessment and exposure for the entire delegation who will also watch live two big games: Real Betis vs Manchester United (tomorrow), and the following week Real Betis Betis vs Inter Milan (17 December) in preparation for resumption of the European club league.”
A sendoff will be held in Harare this morning before departure for the airport. Sibanda said the players were excited by the trip.
“They are excited. Most of the players that come from these territories in Africa, when they get a breakthrough in Europe they usually go to Division Two and Division Three clubs but now they are getting first-hand experience of a top European club, a top La Liga club and spending seven days for them to get the exposure and to see the reality of modern club like Real Betis. I think it’s a dream come true for them,” said Sibanda.
The players will be put into their respective age groups with Real Betis youth teams during the course of the trip. They will have at least five training sessions at the club’s facilities and two friendly matches to assess the level of the Zimbabwean talent.
There will also be a stadium tour, a city tour and tourism activities, a nutrition class and many other activities.
Real Betis Academy Zimbabwe were established in 2020 with the aim of tapping into grassroots talent, affording them facilities and exposing them to high level coaching by implementing the Spanish club’s methodology.
“The reason why Betis is here is that football needs to be developed and it will not be developed from the top but it must be developed from the grassroots. So in the academy we have children between the ages of six years to 18 years. The children between six to 10 years are in the nursery school.
“The objective is to develop football in our country and ensure that the methodology of a top La Liga club is imparted into these youngsters at an early age so that we will be able to compete with West Africa when it comes to the World Cup.
“So the goal is huge because we want to help Zimbabwean football to compete at a high level and we cannot do this from outside. We have to do it from grassroots development and we are very grateful to Real Betis for giving us this opportunity,” said Sibanda.
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