Football English, Chinese Cruyff? Ajax export famed academy model
AFP, Meizhou :
“You let Glasgow score, what were you thinking?” plays a video, as a class of budding Chinese footballers stare at a large screen, their backs ramrod straight and arms folded neatly on their desks.
This is the daily lesson in football English at the youth academy of mid-table Chinese Super League (CSL) side Guangzhou R&F.
Among these 11-year-old boys could be a Chinese Johan Cruyff.
That may sound unlikely, but Dutch giants Ajax have teamed up with R&F and together vowed to build the best football academy in China.
Guangzhou R&F are not even the most famous football club in their own city – that is seven-time CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
But under coach Dragan Stojkovic, a legendary playmaker with the former Yugoslavia, they want to play “the most beautiful football in China”.
And while real estate developer R&F have the deep pockets to shell out on expensive foreign players, they want to focus on youth, in line with Chinese government policy.
That is where Ajax – renowned for developing the likes of Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert and many others – come in.
“It’s a long-term commitment we made with R&F of five years, but maybe we will need a couple more years because we have to start with the basics,” said Ed Engelkes, technical director of R&F Academy.
“When the fundamentals are not good, you have to start all over.”
The deal between Guangzhou R&F and Ajax was announced last November, but Engelkes and the three other coaches from the Dutch club are still getting their feet under the table.
The academy is in Meizhou, a sleepy city 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong and known for producing a number of Chinese players.
The academy has about 330 boys aged eight to 17 and they live on the site, training and having school lessons.
The best boys come on a scholarship while the others pay.
Many are local, but those from farther afield may see their parents just once or twice a year.
“That’s quite a commitment to make,” the 54-year-old Engelkes said, as youngsters fan out across the academy’s pitches. Training is no-nonsense and sessions are captured on video for later scrutiny. One coach occasionally stops a match between 10-year-olds to bark instructions in English, which are then translated.
Patience is needed, Engelkes admits, especially because of language differences.
“You let Glasgow score, what were you thinking?” plays a video, as a class of budding Chinese footballers stare at a large screen, their backs ramrod straight and arms folded neatly on their desks.
This is the daily lesson in football English at the youth academy of mid-table Chinese Super League (CSL) side Guangzhou R&F.
Among these 11-year-old boys could be a Chinese Johan Cruyff.
That may sound unlikely, but Dutch giants Ajax have teamed up with R&F and together vowed to build the best football academy in China.
Guangzhou R&F are not even the most famous football club in their own city – that is seven-time CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
But under coach Dragan Stojkovic, a legendary playmaker with the former Yugoslavia, they want to play “the most beautiful football in China”.
And while real estate developer R&F have the deep pockets to shell out on expensive foreign players, they want to focus on youth, in line with Chinese government policy.
That is where Ajax – renowned for developing the likes of Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert and many others – come in.
“It’s a long-term commitment we made with R&F of five years, but maybe we will need a couple more years because we have to start with the basics,” said Ed Engelkes, technical director of R&F Academy.
“When the fundamentals are not good, you have to start all over.”
The deal between Guangzhou R&F and Ajax was announced last November, but Engelkes and the three other coaches from the Dutch club are still getting their feet under the table.
The academy is in Meizhou, a sleepy city 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong and known for producing a number of Chinese players.
The academy has about 330 boys aged eight to 17 and they live on the site, training and having school lessons.
The best boys come on a scholarship while the others pay.
Many are local, but those from farther afield may see their parents just once or twice a year.
“That’s quite a commitment to make,” the 54-year-old Engelkes said, as youngsters fan out across the academy’s pitches. Training is no-nonsense and sessions are captured on video for later scrutiny. One coach occasionally stops a match between 10-year-olds to bark instructions in English, which are then translated.
Patience is needed, Engelkes admits, especially because of language differences.
