With Youngsters from Mpumalanga, Free State, Western Cape, Limpopo and Gauteng it is no doubt that Remember Elite Sport Academy is one of the leading Sport Academies in the country.
Having been birthed in 2004 and finally getting registered in 2016 by the CEO Xolani Mathumbo - a man that solely believes in the famous words "It takes a village to raise a child" RESA has seen the likes of Thabang Monare, Mduduzi Mdantsane and Lwandle Mabuya just to name a few grow from the grassroots level to the very top levels of Professional Football playing for Cape Town City, Orlando Pirates and Richards Bay respectively.
With the vision of RESA to become one of the leading academies in the world, RESA takes its inspiration from the Borussia Dortmund Academy and Sporting Lisbon Academy who are very exceptional when it comes to developing players especially at a very young age and that seems to be the right inspiration because when we turn our focus to Sporting Lisbon in Portugal we see the likes of the legendary Luis Figo, Paulo Futre and the Superstar of this era Cristiano Ronaldo who started off at the Academy of Sporting Lisbon at the age of 12 years going out to conquer the world.
It is no surprise that Mathumbo sets such high standards for his academy because this is the man that was the development director in administration at RESA in the early 2000's after falling in love with football administration.
"Having grown up in the Vaal and learning how to play football here I wanted to make an impact. Unfortunately my football career was short lived while I was still playing for Wits I was involved in a car accident and that was the end of a very promising football career. It is not easy to deal with such a trauma hence I was diagnosed with depression and spent an entire year depressed but one day I decided that in Sport there are other ways to make an impact and that's how my football administration journey began", Mathumbo added.
Mathumbo then went on to become the Acting Managing Director at the Academy for 2 years before becoming the Emfuleni Sport Council Executive Member and the Chairperson of the Sedibeng Sport Council in 2010.
"2011 was for me the highlight as Gauteng Sport recognized the work I was doing at RESA and how the academy was growing in leaps and bounds and by virtue of that progress I was the 1st Treasurer of Gauteng Sport Confederation for a whole term of 5 years."
Mathumbo then stepped down from his role as the Treasurer of Gauteng Sport Confederation in 2016 after RESA was officially registered and that's when the actual work started and that idea that started off as a dream way back in 2004 was now taking its shape to become a reality.
From 2016 until date RESA has proven that indeed development is their core business as they seek to be the hub of development in football and other Sporting Codes, Mathumbo mentions that they want Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns to come knocking at their doors whenever they want players outside off their own development teams.
Mathumbo furthermore expressed his views on the current situation the country is in, "Personally I believe that in South Africa we are 10 years behind compared to other countries especially in football because you go to Europe today and a 16 year old is already a complete player who is also competitive for playing in the FIFA World Cup, so if there can be proper administration and good management overall across all spheres of developing our players then that will work as a good fortune for the country.
For example the challenges we face at RESA is funding, if the officials at the top positions in government were really vested in sport and development of these youngsters then RESA would not be private, I believe the country needs fresh blood in the top government positions that way fresh ideas will come and sport will grow, it is really sad to see in our region the lack of facilities and I mean well maintained government facilities being operational."
2022 proved justice to the fact that indeed the academy primarily focuses on developing youngsters because one of their U/17 players Wise Ndevu went to Italy and Spain for trials after having been scouted, not only that but another U/17 player from the GDL squad Ntando Magubane was signed by the Mamelodi Sundowns MDC team.
In 2022 RESA also received their first ever nomination at the Gauteng Sports Awards in the category Community Sport and Recreation Programme of the year and reflecting on the nomination Mathumbo mentioned that "hard work, dedication and demonstrating impact in the province is one of the many reasons the academy has brought the nomination home". The Academy is up against Kwa-Thema Disability Club aswell as Altus Sport.
"Another reason why I believe that we can build on the tremendous work we have done so far is this year 2023 we are looking into launching the RESA Ladies Soccer Team, RESA Rugby and a Swimming academy for girls and those sporting codes will add on our other sporting code that has already kicked off which is Athletics and I am proud to say that we have started off on the right track as 4 of our Athletes represented Gauteng last year and broke records at the National School College Competition and this became possible through them training at our Gym Centre and using all the available resources we have to enhance their performance", Mathumbo added.
RESA is also the 2022 Champions for the Doctor Khumalo Tournament that was held in Dube, Soweto last year in July while the RESA Netball team are still the reigning champions of the Free State Cup in Metsimaholo.
Just like Sporting Lisbon Academy has produced two Ballon d'Or winners - Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo, RESA will be hoping to follow suit in creating superstars of tomorrow that will form the backbone of Bafana Bafana's success on the International Stage.
The Academy is located at 21 corner Botha & Market Avenue Vereeniging, South Africa.
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