Having been involved in youth and professional coaching for the past 30 years, obtaining qualifications from Brazil and the highest level in South Africa, renowned youth coach Farouk Khan is taking all of his experience gained at the Transnet School of Excellence, Kaizer Chiefs' youth ranks, at his own brainchild Stars of Africa football Academy, during assistant coach roles at both Amakhosi and Mamelodi Sundowns and as Santos head coach to create a Mzansi football development masterclass. Following an exclusive conversation with the man responsible for unearthing hidden gems like May Mahlangu, Tokelo Rantie, Surprise Ralani and Tefu Mashamaite, amongst others, the Siya crew takes a closer look at what Khan's new and improved academy entails and why he feels that the 'School of Excellence on steroids' could benefit domestic football.
What The Siya Crew Has Been Told…
Farouk Khan, who has been the director of Stars of Africa Academy since 2003, is known for his passion for football, and especially football development, where he has amassed a wealth of experience. Taking all of this experience, he will now be opening what is known as 'Stars of Africa – The Atrium', which is set to officially open its doors soon. According to the former Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach, this new and improved facility will house over 100 of the country's finest talents, running along the lines of the successful Transnet School of Excellence model, only better, where players receive world-class football training and education – a School of Excellence on steroids!
"I think it's something that has been in the making for a number of years. I think we were hamstrung with finance. Fortunately, a friend of mine who was Godsent, he owns this building and he made the building available to us at a very, very cheap rental (fee). There's still a lot of work that needs to be done, which he volunteered to do for us. Obviously we have to pay back what he is investing, but at the same time we don't have to go to banks and borrow money. There's still obviously the fact that we are looking at sponsors coming on board now, even branding it – even if we have to call it the KFC Academy, for example. We don't mind because we want to reach out to the broader public. We believe an academy of this nature is very important. I'll tell you why. If you look at the normal set-up in development, most kids go to normal schools, they'll come back in the evening and in the afternoons they go to training for an hour-and-a-half and they go home. That's not sufficient," he said.
Khan hopes that the facility will open its doors in November this year but will begin operating in January 2024. Part of his long terms goals is to share knowledge with other coaches as well as develop players that he would like to see represent South Africa at international levels.
"I'm excited about it. The first time I had a colouring book, and with the colouring book I produced some really good players with God's help. Now I have a canvas to paint on and with this, the sky is the limit and I'm not taking Sundowns' cliché away from them," adds Khan.
What Are The Facts?
Khan was a key part of the successful Transnet School of Excellence programme, which was started back in 1994, with just 47 players. The programme was aimed at identifying talented young football players from rural and underprivileged communities to prepare them for a professional career on the football field, where, along with academic and holistic life skills education, they received specialised training to develop their natural football talent. The ex-Santos head coach played a key part in producing elite players like Steven Pienaar, Gabriel 'Ninja' Mofokeng, Elrio Van Heerden, Bernard Parker, Daine Klate, Bryce Moon and Masilo Modubi, amongst others. Following his stint at the School, he took up a role as Head of Academy at Amakhosi, where he helped develop players like Nhlanhla Kubheka, Gerald Sibeko, Jabu Pule (now Mahlangu), Thabiso Malatsi and Junior Khanye, to mention a few. Two years later, following stintswith Mamelodi Sundowns and Santos respectively, Khan would begin his own passion project – Stars of Africa Academy. With limited resources and their small Mayfair base, the academy managed to furnish a number of teams both locally and internationally with top players, many of whom have gone on to represent Bafana Bafana. Having produced the likes of May Mahlangu, Tokelo Rantie, Tefu Mashamaite, Luther Singh, Pule Maraisane, Surprise Ralani and Patrick Maswanganyi, Khan's Atrium will look to produce even more players at the new and improved facilities.
The Story Behind The Scenes
What Is Different About This Academy?
In addition to football training, players involved at the Atrium will receive private schooling provided on-site by LAED EDUCON, who will provide each student athlete with individual student academic support, specialist subject educators, independent learning and academic flexibility.
"They are gonna be schooling at the academy, so there'll be full-time schooling with top educators because we believe that education must be on par with the football and that's aiming high because you know that the standard at Stars of Africa is very high. So, if we want the education to be as high as that, we have to get the best person. But we've got a woman who is very passionate. Already, she has educated s number of boys at Stars (of Africa) who couldn't go to other schools because of learning reasons. She's already matriculated a number of them, and now she's gonna be here as a fulltime educator. We've built a big, big classroom. It's still very rough and hopefully by the end of November, this place will be ready to walk in.
"So, we will try to educate players. Some of them may not become footballers. They may become journalists, coaches or whatever else. But this is a good grounding for them. So, when you send your child here, you are getting a fantastic education. Academical and football education, but also discipline, because that's the key factor. This place will be so well-managed that kids will eat, drink, sleep football. On weekends, maybe parents take them, those that are living close by will go home and come back. It will be like a rugby school, where when a youngster sees you, they look you straight in the eye and take off their hat before greeting you," Khan shared.
Why Was It Established?
Khan, who has placed a number of players in some of Europe's top leagues as in the case of Rantie, who spent time in the English Premiership with Bournemouth, says he has identified a physical inferiority posed by our players against their European and South American counterparts, an area his academy is desperate to rectify.
"If you look at the normal set-up in development, most kids go to normal schools. They'll come back in the evening and in the afternoons they go to training for an hour-and-a-half and they go home. That's not sufficient. When I studied it in Brazil, I estimated 20 hours of training per youth player per week, not per month. That means four hours a day. So, what we are doing is we are basing it on that Brazilian model where we are gonna have the kids' first training from 05h00 to about 06h30 because it's our school. When they come back from training in the morning, they have a nice breakfast, go to school until 13h00, go for lunch and the second, afternoon session comes in.
"This is now where we work on the tactical and technical side because in the morning, it is purely physical, building them up. That is a huge area of playing the game and we have realised how poor we are physically compared to our counterparts in Europe and elsewhere in South America where I studied. There's no Brazilian player who, when he joins a club in England, has to wait. Physically, mentally and technically he is ready.
Lessons Borrowed From Brazil
One major upgrade to the new-look academy is the elite facilities which include 24-hour access control, a gym, internet access, shower/icing facility, study rooms, player lounges, game room with table tennis, PlayStation and foosball. These facilities will enable players to receive holistic training and the necessary respite both on and off the field. This is an area identified by Khan during his studies in the land of the Samba.
"Once the boys finish the afternoon session, they come back to the academy because we've got beautiful fields across from where we are. They then have supper, have a study period and then they come for an hour's video analysis. This is where we discuss modern trends, tactical awareness. Sometimes they say a picture is worth a thousand words. But the video is probably 100 000 words. So, they will be watching videos on motivation, on tactics, on all the different aspects of the modern game."
The Siya crew spoke to a top agent in SA to get their expert understanding on what's going on. For obvious reasons, the agent will remain anonymous.
"I actually wished he had gone back to Chiefs and taken up the position that was vacated by Molefi Ntseki. The good news is that someone from the same school of football, Cavin (Johnson), took up that role. I've seen what Farouk could do with the limited resources he had at his disposal, yet he was able to produce top players who went on to have good lives even after football. Imagine what he could do at a big club where there is no shortage of resources. I think his talent is being underutilized, even by SAFA. He could be contributing to our junior national team, his track record speaks for itself. However, I'm glad that he is continuing with his own venture and that it has grown in stature. I so wish that he could get all the sponsorship he needs to make a success of this as it is is much-needed in our country."
Watch This Space
Given Khan's plans to launch this programme in January, it could see Bafana Bafana and the DStv Premiership benefit greatly from a coach who has a track record in developing some of the best young players the country has seen.
"School of Excellence was there because when we started the School, we were in a learning curve when I was the head coach at the School and Neil Tovey was the manager. Cavin Johnson was with us. We started out the programme and we didn't have much knowledge about physical development. That's why when Steven Pienaar went to Ajax Amsterdam, he had to come back and undergo more physical training because we were very raw in that regard. Yes, we have now realised that over the years, we've grown as coaches. So, can you imagine, 1994 to now, how much more insight we gained on developing players," Khan says of his new project.
