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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by Karl[/i] [br]Côte d'Ivoire © Reuters 2004 ABIDJAN, April 22 (Reuters) - Among mango trees and clipped hedges, on wide fields by a lagoon, a group of young Africans practise their football skills and dream of playing in Europe. These teenagers in the main city of Ivory Coast have a better chance than most of realising their dreams. They are pupils at an Abidjan soccer academy whose graduates include Arsenal's Kolo Toure, Anderlecht's Aruna Dindane and 10 members of the line-up at Belgian Cup finalists Beveren. "It was a dream for me to come to the academy," said 14-year-old Cesar Troh, a central defender sitting on the sidelines of a training session. "I want to be like Kolo, the only Ivorian at Arsenal." The story of the academy is one of stunning success, a rebirth and now a struggle against the effects of war in the former French colony. The academy is part of the city's top club ASEC Abidjan and was a frontrunner among a clutch of soccer schools which have sprung up around Africa over the past decade. Jean-Marc Guillou, a former French international, founded the school in 1993 and it is located at ASEC's training complex. TOP PLAYERS Taking children from the street and giving them a general education and top-class soccer training, the academy soon supplied a stream of players for the ASEC first team. The high point came in 1999 when an ASEC side filled with academy graduates with an average age of 17 - including a young Kolo Toure - won the African Super Cup by beating overwhelming favourites Esperance of Tunis 3-1. "We knew about the academy because of players like Kolo," said Ibrahim Kone, a 16-year-old midfielder whose ambition is to play for Manchester United. Guillou left ASEC and took many proteges with him to Beveren where is now sporting manager. He has been embroiled in a legal dispute with the club over transfer fees. The academy has been relaunched under the leadership of former Caen coach Pascal Theault. Its stated aim is to produce well-educated young men who can also be top soccer players. "Our philosophy is: the more the man grows, the better the chance he will be a great footballer," said Benoit You, another Frenchman who is part of the academy's new management. Although the school began again with new recruits, its bosses are confident it will be able to match the original academy when it comes to producing future internationals. The academy is run by Abidjan's top soccer club to give promising young players an all-round education and intensive football training. It has already produced graduates such as Arsenal defender Kolo Toure, Anderlecht striker Arouma Dindane - and 10 members of the first-choice line-up for Belgian Cup finalists Beveren. REUTERS/ Luc Gnago Almost half of Ivory Coast's recently-named under-16 squad are among its pupils. Anyone who is selected for the academy has already done well. Coaches saw 30,000 players in trials around the country before picking just 18, aged between 12 and 15, to be the first intake of the relaunched school in January 2003. The "academiciens" live at the school during the week, sleeping in bunk beds, four to a room. The rooms are hardly luxurious but, complete with air conditioning units, they are better than many in Africa could hope for. The boys get two sessions of soccer training most days, play a match on Saturday and receive regular checks from a doctor, who also sets their diet. The management insists general education is important. If a player hasn't done his homework, he misses training. PASSIVE VOICE The pupils get classes in maths, history, geography and physics as well as English, French and Spanish to help them adapt if they win their dream move to a European club. "Put the sentences into the passive or active voice," reads the instruction on the blackboard in the English class - a task many native English-speaking footballers might find challenging. "School is the priority," declared You, the head of administration and education. He gestured through the window of his office to a pupil sitting on the terrace of a long hut. The boy arrived at the school aged 12, having been in the street all his life, unable to read or write. He now gets one-on-one tuition. "We'll adapt our structures to the children," You said. Relaunching the academy was always going to be a tough task. But it got tougher when a civil war broke out in September 2002. Although the conflict has been declared over, large parts of a peace plan remain unimplemented, armed rebels still control the northern half of the country and an economy which was once a regional powerhouse has been badly battered. With fans staying away from the stadium and sponsors short of money, ASEC has had to make cuts. Teachers at the academy do not get paid. A few faithful sponsors keep the pupils supplied with T-shirts, schoolbooks and bottled water. The players themselves may be a valuable source of income one day. Soccer academies in developing countries will always be open to the charge that they are exploiting young African players to sell them on for big profits. Defenders of the academies say they give children a free, all-round education they would not normally receive as well as the chance to become soccer professionals. The fact that European clubs are willing to pay big fees for the graduates can only help the continent, they argue. "If Europeans have more money and come and buy our players, I think it's good for Africa," said Xavier Minougou, an Ivorian coach at the ASEC academy. [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.