Mpumalanga Black Aces has now set up an Academy in Gauteng. In partnering with The Corinthians Football Club, in Linksfield Johannesburg the team now has established a Gauteng base. In its first year of operation the Academy won the prestigious Gauteng Central LFA Club of the Year Award. In addition 2 (Under 14 and under 15) teams won the league and cup double and the Under 12’s where the cup champions. Further to this the seniors and U13’s reached the final in their age groups.

Corinthians FC is the football arm of the Greek Sporting Club and has been playing in the amateur leagues for many years and is steeped in Football tradition. In fact the club has been playing football around Johannesburg since 1958.

Today the Corinthians Black Aces Football Academy caters for teams with players from all the surrounding communities including the Alexandria Township where many previously disadvantage boys are able hone their skills fully sponsored by this Academy.

Through Mpumalanga Black Aces, Umbro have also come on board and are now the Academy technical sponsors providing football equipment and kit for all the players. The Academy is also host to the PSL team Mpumalanga Black Aces whenever they are in Johannesburg. The team does its pre-match preparations as well as friendly games at the Academy Grounds.

The Academy has football teams ranging from:

• Under 6 to Under 11 playing in the little league Football
• Under 12 to Under 19 playing in the junior section and
• 4 Academy teams, U13, U15, U17, and U19
• Two Open teams playing in the 1st division of the Southern Gauteng Premier League
• In addition the club has two teams for over 35’s playing in a Veteran’s league
• The club also actively promotes girls football with a registered girls team

The Academy has a progressive football coaching philosophy and in this vein encourages coaches to do coaching courses. The club is always looking for coaches so if you have an interest in coaching contact the Academy Director, Lucas Ioannides on 011 454 3187. In addition the academy makes every effort to expose players to new coaching experiences with overseas tours when funds permit. In the last few years many international and local trips have taken place.

This year alone there have been four trips:

• The under 11’s traveled to the Real Madrid Academy in April
• The under 12’s traveled to Carrington in Manchester, UK, home of the Manchester United Academy.
• The under 10’s traveled to Cape Town, taking part in the Ajax Cape Town tournament.
• The under 17’s traveled to Cyprus where they competed with the U17 teams of the Cyprus big four premier teams, namely Anorthosis, Omonia, Apoel Nicosia and Limassol.

The Academy has 4 fields of good quality, all with lighting. Full time grounds people maintain the fields and the academy and a 3rd generation 5 a-side artificial turf court.