NIKE ‘THE CHANCE’ – CAPE TOWN

Nike Continues Local Search of ‘The Chance’ for Talented Footballers

Nike visits Cape Town to search for undiscovered football talent to join the Nike Academy and play for a pro contract in the UK

Following the launch of The Chance with Arsene Wenger, Manager of Arsenal FC, in Soweto in June, Nike will activate its second trial event on Sunday, 22 August at the Tableview Football Club, Cape Town.

Following the first round of successful trials in Johannesburg last week, Nike will host trials for 150 aspiring Cape Town footballers providing them with the opportunity to shine. Clubs and academies in Cape Town were invited to select their best young players to represent the region. Just five places are up for grabs and the footballers who display the most skill and football prowess on the day will be given the opportunity to progress to the final Elite Training programme and trials in September.

Ahead of ‘The Chance’ trials taking place on Sunday, Nike will also host an Elite Training Programme on Saturday at Royal Road, Maitland as well as a coach-to-coach skills programme. This falls in line with Nike’s sustained commitment to youth development by educating coaches in order to ensure continued development in the future.

Football legends Shaun Bartlett and Eric Tinkler, who are both involved in the coaching of Nike’s Elite Training proramme, will facilitate the scouting, along with support from renowned local coaches and former professional players. Bartlett started his professional career in Cape Town in a successful spell with Cape Town Spurs before leaving South Africa to pursue his career abroad where he featured prominently for clubs in the United States, Switzerland and England.

“Although this is an international competition, The Chance is also helping us identify talent we should consider to fast track in our development structures”, said Shaun Bartlett.  “Programmes such as these being rolled out by Nike and our core team, demonstrates our commitment to unearthing talent to further boost football development in South Africa.”

Just under 300 footballers from Soweto and greater Johannesburg have already been presented with an opportunity to get scouted as they underwent trials in Johannesburg on Saturday 14 August at the Nike Football Training Centre and 11 footballers were short listed for the final Nike Elite Training Programme that will be held in September.

During the final Elite Training Programme and The Chance trials, only four footballers will be selected as part of the 100 players from around world for a final trial in England, where they will compete for one of eight international places in the Nike Academy.  These eight will have all their expenses paid to live in the UK for a year starting in July 2011 and be a full time member of the Nike Academy.

The Nike Academy is a high performance training programme supported by the Premier League in England.  Since the Academy’s start in 2009, eight players in the UK have received professional contracts.

As members of the Nike Academy, players become full-time participants at a residential training centre in England with access to elite coaches, nutritionists, psychologists and fitness conditioners, along with world class facilities to perform at the highest level.