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Prince Mukuna Sports Reporter
THE Academy 2063, an ambitious nationwide junior football development project spearheaded by a South Africa-based businessman Regis Dzenga, recently completed their inaugural tour of South Africa.

Academy 2063 is an elite football development academy based at Prince Edward School.

The friendly games consisted of three age-groups which were Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17, and were played from the August 26 to September 3 against Shumba FC, Midstream FC, Tuks Soccer Academy and Orlando Pirates FC.

Shumba FC Academy is run by former Zimbabwe international and Orlando Pirates star Edelbert Dinha.

Tuks Soccer Academy is based at the University of Pretoria High Performance Centre which has developed stars like Caster Semenya and Akani Simbini.

Impressed by the boys’ performance Dzenga said the junior footballers gained a lot in playing against their opponents.

“Our boys got to learn what it’s like to play top junior football against these South African teams and I must say the acquitted themselves very well.

“For an academy in its first year of operation, we were very encouraged by the results. We believe our boys will improve significantly between now and the end of 2018,’’ he said.

Dzenga said the project is an elite project aimed only for the best of the best.

“The players were selected through trials starting at province, run by selected provincial coaches, and the top five players from each province came to Harare for the final trials.

‘’The top 20 out of 60 players were then selected and given scholarships to study at Prince Edward.

“Compared to Agatha Sheneti, the standards are so much higher. The intention is to work only with boys who dare to dream about being international podium stars and have the quality to back it up.

“One such player is Alvin Dube who was selected Player of Tournament at Copa Coca-Cola in Zvishavane.

‘’There is intense competition and not even Alvin is guaranteed a place in the starting line-up,’’ said Dzenga.

The businessman ran a successful academy in the past that produced a number of high-profile players in this country.

Results

Academy 2063 U-17 2, Shumba U-19 1; Academy 2063 U-15 3, Midstream U-15 1; Academy 2063 U-152, Tuks Academy U-15 2; Academy 2063 U-15 2, Orlando Pirates U-15 0.