Football Association of Malawi (FAM) on Friday opened the long-awaited Luwinga Inclusive Football Academy at Luwinga Technical Centre in Malawi’s Northern Region city, Mzuzu City.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, FAM President Fleetwood Haiya said the opening of the academy signifies his Football Transformation Agenda.
He said the academy will help to produce more players for elite performance.
Said Haiya: “The programme, which is running under the FIFA Technical Development Scheme is key to our strategy of enhancing player development pathways in developing players for elite performance at both national and club level.
“Malawi has failed to achieve international success at all levels due to lack of quality players because of a poor player development programme in the absence of schools of excellence.”
He further said his administration is committed to ensuring that the academy becomes one of the best in the region as far as enrollment, talent development and export is concerned.
Said the President: “As a country, Malawi is perhaps the only nation in the region which has no big football stars in the big leagues in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and even Africa. This is due to the unavailability of systematic plans to develop, nurture and export best talent for development and elite performance.
“But that changes now with the establishment of this inclusive academy which is one of the main initiatives in achieving one of our overall outcomes in our newly strategic plan on transforming Malawi football and contributing to the MW 2063 goals.”
Haiya also disclosed that Fam will establish more schools of excellence through the partnership with Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) and Ministry of Education.
The academy apart from offering fundamental football skills through professional coaching, also focuses on child character development, life skills and mentorship programmes allowing them to grow, not only as athletes but also as individuals and responsible citizens.
South African Talent Coach Thabo Senong, who is in charge of training players and developing local coaches, said he was looking forward to nurturing talent.
“The talent development scheme programme is making sure that three objectives are achieved. Finding the best talent, giving the best talent a chance around Malawi and also trying to get the best talent to train with the best talent,” he said.
On her part, Play International representative Cyndie Marques said the opening of the academy is a milestone in the development of football in the country.
“This is a very important moment for the programme. We use sports as a tool for development for the youth,” said Marques whose organisation is financially supporting the project.
Currently, the academy has 42 players that were scouted across Malawi.
The players are also enrolled at Wukani Private School to help them develop academic skills and knowledge.
