Nike built a Football Training Centre in Soweto (Klipspruit). This centre will be occupied by the Soweto Local Football Association after the World Cup. Currently Nike is running youth tournaments to open the centre until the end of the World Cup thereafter the SLFA will move into the premises.

Nike will still pump in money for the upkeep of the centre until 2014 and thereafter companies like Hyundai who are previous sponsors of the SLFA and Clinix will be coming to assist with regards to the running costs of the centre.

My only worry is the politics that are going to come after the World Cup with the Mother Body wanting total control of the centre. My only wish is that the centre should carry out its intended purpose and that is to develop Soweto's talented grassroots.

Attached are some of the photos I took recently.

The Exterior Wall
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03563.jpg

The Centre Entrance
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03564.jpg

The Walk Way
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03565.jpg

The Entrance Mural
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03566.jpg

The Main Entrance
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03567.jpg

The Welcome Centre
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03568.jpg

The Media Chillout Area
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03572.jpg

The Big Screen
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03573.jpg

The Nike Sponsor Corner
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03569.jpg

The Centre
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03580.jpg

The Spectators View Field One
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03578.jpg

The Spectators View Field Two
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03579.jpg

The Design Concept
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03574.jpg

The Nike Cup Jozi Logo
http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx144/karabo216/The%20Nike%20Football%20Training%20Centre%20in%20Soweto/DSC03585.jpg

good to see nike showing some love to the hood.

Wow it looks amazing! I've only seen it once from the outside but the inside looks really nice... hopefully it will be put to good use.:applause:

Btw great pics

Lovely, this is wonderful, thank you for the posts Karabo

I saw the place on TV and I have to say it looks great. Thanks again

this is the type of places u need to develop the game amongst the youth in this country. i hope it get put to good use

good to see its been done without a cent to spare ...very world class...probably a bit intimidating to a new starter but thats all part of the challenge when presented to a youngster.

Is the pitch grass?

fair play to nike! when we talk about the legacy the world cup will leave it will be places like the nike training centre that will help to improve and uplift the youth in areas like soweto!

Very good looking place that.

Is the pitch grass?

astro...looking at the real grass between the pitches its its normal shade for this time of year so by contrast ..which is huge and too precise to be anything but astroturff.

:cheers:PD.

Awesome man! I think there still more excellent football players which will come from Soweto, and this is the effort to help get that realized. It all starts from the lower league which is always as competitive as hell!

wonder what the selection criteria and or feeder set up is for this :hm:

@Project Director

This will be run by the Soweto Local Football Association. Part of their objectives is to:

-have select teams from the Soweto leagues train there for preparation of tournaments
-train coaches by running coaching education programmes
-run the leagues
-run annual tournaments
-in the future, they might run a Soweto School of Football Excellence (requires a lot more funding for this programme)

And yes, it is artificial grass (rubber not astro turf). Two real grass fields are behind the two artificial fields.

thanks mate...so you planning on keeping this info flowing...very interesting place this .


:cheers:PD.

Of course I will. I know most of the people who will be running the centre so will keep you updated on the latest info that arises.

cool...look forward to seeing a targetted new one going to the 2014 with bafana.

This place will be a legacy, something left over from the world cup :banana:

correct...more around the country will always be better than one...so a disjoined approach could be a detractor..as well NIKE will put pressure for their developers to be recognised and influence matters as they sponsor alot of teams...it needs watching.

Germany built 387 training centres around their country for football development and educated 1200 elite coaches and about 29 coordinaters to run these centres. They further upgraded and built 1000 football courts in their schools and incorporated some of these football programs into some of the schools' curriculum. They have a project where they want to or are busy with educating 20 000 school football teachers for these programs at school.

Some of the products of their mass development drive have come to fruition and are on display in South Africa right now.

I agree that one is not enough. We need at least 50 of these centres in South Africa so that our football authorities won't have to fight for just one of these but will have many centres that they can call their own. Centres that they can run proper football programs from.

Happy reading...

http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=508795

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/raphael_honigstein/07/01/germany.reinvention/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8789682.stm

of course...so with US$60MILLION to invest properly...as in ...place it in a reasonable investment vehicle like government bonds ...receive a annual ammmount forever...underpinn more such centers as opposed to giving Jordan and co fat payouts and see success come thru at 2014-2018-2022-2026-2030-2034----etc...its almost too easy...yet so easy to stuff up..