Famous Dutch soccer club Feyenoord have agreed a deal with the Rwanda Football Association (Ferwafa) which will strengthen the quality of their youth and development infrastructure.
The Dutch club’s youth academy, which is affectionately known as the Varkenoord, earned the Rinus Michels Award for best youth academy in the Netherlands for five consecutive years since 2009.
The academy can proudly say that they produced 11 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup players who took part in Brazil, which is the most of any academy at that World Cup.
The Feyenoord Youth Football Academy is already active in other parts of Africa, with academies or agreements with clubs in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, as well as Vietnam in Asia.
Ferwafa president Vincent Degaule Nzamwita had a meeting with Feyenoord’s International Relations Manager Gido Vader this week, in which they agreed plans aimed at improving the state of youth academy football in Rwanda.
“The meeting was aimed at seeing how possible we can put into effect what we discussed in our previous meeting and what needs to be added such that we cement a long relationship with Feyenoord,” Nzamwita said, according to the Ferwafa site.
“Since we are planning to have a firm U-15 tournament, their technical assistance in every aspect will be vital for the growth of football in the country. We believe soon we will have a pact in place to start benefiting from their technical assistance,” he stated.
Rwanda’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Jean Pierre Karabaranga was also in attendance at the club’s headquarters in Rotterdam, in order to support the initiative, and Nzamwita was grateful for his presence.
“We also thank Ambassador Karabaranga for his support in ensuring that Feyenoord comes on board to develop the country’s football sector,” he added.
Legendary players such as Johan Cruyff and Ruud Gullit have played for Feyenoord in the past, and the Rwanda FA will hope that a future star may emerge from their youth ranks in years to come.
