South Africans are known for their passion for football, evident in the many soccer academies and schools in the country. These academies are dedicated to grooming young talent.
Some of the football schools come with boarding facilities, where young players can focus sole on honing their soccer skills.
These soccer boarding schools offer fully-fledged academic programs Below is a list of the best soccer boarding schools in South Africa.
1. Louis Botha Technical High School – Bloemfontein, Free State
Louis Botha Technical High School is located in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa. The school has existed for over a century, making it the oldest in the country. Despite being an academic institution, it has a thriving sports program.
The institution has invested a lot in soccer. It has many teams for under 14, under 15, under 16, under 17, under 18, and 19 age categories. The aforementioned teams play in many provincial and national competitions.
Many professional football players have emergedfrom the Louis Botha Technical High School. Some of the notable ones are Tebogo Qinisile, and Teboho Khasipe.
2. Soweto United Stars Soccer Academy – Soweto, Gauteng Province
Soweto United Stars Soccer Academy is a popular boarding schools in Gauteng province. It is in the Pimville neighbourhood of Soweto. The school offers soccer training alongside a academic program. The academy is known to he a good soccer school for young individuals who aspire to become successful soccer players. It has under 13 to under 20 teams as well as as senior and reserve team.
The academy’s teams often compete in national and international competitions, giving a great deal of popularity to its players.
3. Diambars Football Academy – Boksburg, Gauteng Province
This South African soccer boarding school is located in Gauteng Province, in Boksburg City. It is part of the Diambars Football Academy in Senegal, established by former footballers Jimmy Adjovi-Boko and Bernard Lama.
Prominent as one of the best academies, in South Africa, the school has dominated many competitions. It has also produced many seasoned players stars like Lebogang Mothiba (who plays for French club RC Strasbourg Alsace), Keanu Gregory Cupido (Cape Town City FC), and Tholang Masegela (former Magesi FC player).
4. Total Football Academy – Johannesburg, Gauteng Province
Total Football Academy is based in Johannesburg. It offers a soccer program for boys between 9 and 20. Apart from that, it offers a mainstream academic program from grade 1 to grade 12. The academy comes with boarding facilities for students who play football and thsie who do not.
Total Football Academy is one of the best soccer schools in South Africa. Its teams compete regularly in the SAFA league.
5. TuksSport High School – Pretoria, Gauteng Province
TuksSport High School is prominent as one of the best in South Africa, located in Pretoria, Gauteng Province. It offers a soccer program for both boys and girls.
Apart from football, there are several other sports programs such as athletics, golf, tennis, triathlon, gymnastics, cricket, judo, swimming. It comes with a full-fledged academic program.
TuksSport High School is a great school for young students who aspire to become top footballers. With its excellent training facilities, instructors and coaches, the school offers a balanced environment for both academic and sports activities.
6. Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools – Johannesburg
Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools are a group of South African Soccer academies in Boksburg, North Riding, and Midrand. They provide a soccer program for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 13.
The schools are new to the South African soccer academy scene, having been established in 2023. Though they are quite young, they rose to prominence because they were founded by Pitso Mosimane, a professional footballer and renowned coach.
7. Super Sports United Soccer Schools – Pretoria, Gauteng Province
Super Sports United Soccer Schools are a group of schools with several soccer academies around South Africa, including Pretoria, Cape Town, Ruimsig, Sandton, Durban, among others. Most of them offer boarding facilities for their young footballers.
These schools are great avenues for budding players to nurture their skills. The schools provide formal education, world-class soccer training facilities, and life-skills coaching all of which are free.
Many prominent stars have emerged from these schools including Ronwen Hayden (South Africa men’s national soccer team), Cebo Meyiwa (Mpumalanga Black Aces), and Dumsani Msibi (South Africa Under 20).
8. Hilton College – Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal
Hilton College is one of the good South African boarding schools, located in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal province. A private boarding school for boys, the school offers a sports program including soccer, athletics, basketball, canoeing, cricket, golf, swimming, tennis, water polo, and more.
The school offers a comprehensive private school education. It also has many good training facilities, providing the right environment for young people to hone their soccer skills.
9. Siyadlala Football Academy – Hazyview, Mpumalanga
Siyadlala Football Academy is a soccer boarding school located at Hazyview in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. It comes with a soccer training program for boys aged 10 to 15.
Though it is not an academic institution, it collaborates with other schools in the area to give education to its young players.
The academy has a soccer program program and often competes in international tournaments with other European teams and academies.
10. BSI Football Academy – Johannesburg, Gauteng Province
BSI (Balderstone Sports Institute) is an elite sports performance academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. It comes with a sports coaching program for soccer, golf, tennis, and athletics and a broad academic program.
BSI Football Academy is one of best soccer boarding schools in South Africa. The football program caters to boys and girls from as young as eight to 19 years old.
Additionally, the academy has an elite development program for young players out of high school who aspire to become professional footballers.
BSI has world-class facilities, and the school often arranges international soccer camps to give more exposure to its players.
Also, the academy has nurtured many stars like Tatiana Correia, who was recently called up for national duty with the South African Women’s Under 17 national team.
Please am good footballer I will love to play for this team please
I have dream of playing football and parents are poor to sponsor me please am a good footballer and I will love to play for this team please so that I can prove my self to the world.Thank you very much may God bless you and your family,amen