About Us
Hola Skoko Football Academy aims to provide upcoming footballers with the correct tools, training and necessary exposure to ensure future footballers are recognised in South Africa and given the opportunity to further their footballing careers. Hola Skoko Football Academy provides a platform for growth and the potential to become professional footballers.
Hola Skoko Football Academy
Hola Skoko Football Academy is the brain child of founder Nishaan Ansary who has an immense passion for anything football. Nishaan Ansary started his footballing career at the tender age of 5 for a local club called Lesco Football Club. He had quickly impressed coaches and by the age of 8 was already playing in the under 11 division. By the age of 16, Nishaan had excelled at his local club and had gone for trials at various clubs including Wits and Black Leopards. By 19, Nishaan had trialed at Wits Academy, Augusto Palacios Apprentice Academy, Moroka Swallows U/19 and Stars of Africa and also had the opportunity to go to the United States of America on a football scholarship but this was declined due to family and academic commitments. At the mature age of 23 under the Moroka Swallows banner, one last opportunity presented itself to go to France on a 6 week trial with a Ligue 2 development team. 2 weeks before the trial date Nishaan had sustained one of his worst injuries in which his pelvis had twisted and recovery time for this injury was a minimum of 8 weeks with intense physio. This proved to be Nishaans last opportunity at a professional contract and due to the unfortunate circumstances had to turn down the offer.
Unfortunately due to many injuries sustained from playing indoor football, Nishaan never got the opportunity to play in the first team. Another unfortunate circumstance was that Nishaan got a lot of these trials by just being in the right place at the right time and being selected to trial at the various clubs. A light bulb went off in 2016 in which the Hola Skoko Football Academy was born. The idea behind the academy is to provide exposure for young talent increasing their chances of being scouted. Together with the exposure factor, players will be trained and equipped with the necessary skills to deal with these trial opportunities and stay away from places that could hinder their footballing opportunities reducing the risk of injury.
Nishaan is now a qualified Quantity Surveyor (Bsc. Hons(QS) WITS) and is looking to give back to the community and assist future footballers where ever he can. There are many talented footballers out there but have not been given the right exposure or the correct training. The brief stints with the academy teams had given Nishaan excellent experience and it is now time to impart this knowledge to the youth.
The Coaches
Nishaan Ansary will be at the forefront of taking this academy to the top. He personally over looks all training sessions as well as ensuring that each coach completes their D license certification as a pre-requisite of coaching at the academy. All coaches are paid which increases the level of professionalism. Paid coaches also makes sure that we ascertain to a level of quality which increases players abilities in all divisions. We are the first academy in lenasia to step away from the volunteer coaching philosophy and start the new generation of paid coaches. We take the term SAFA accredited coaches very seriously and make sure all our coaches achieve this.
Should you be interested in becoming a part of the family, please email your cv to inf@holaskokofootball.com
The Coaches
Nishaan Ansary (Founder and Development Coach)
Nishaan Ansary will be at the forefront of taking this academy to the top. He has completed the SAFA Level D and SAFA Level C licenses and will soon be completing the SAFA B License. He has also attended coaching sessions at Alex Black Aces and Orlando Pirates. This will ensure that the youth get the best training, skills, knowledge and necessary assistance to push them in the direction of being professional footballers. Coach Nish is passionate about anything football and has taken the time to complete his qualifications to ensure the correct knowledge and techniques are passed down to the other coaches and in turn passed down to the kids. The academy holds internal coaching sessions for all coaches in the academy to ensure the same level of professionalism and ideas of football are carried from the Promotion team down to the juniors. Coach Nish's experience in the footballing world together with the certifications will be imparted on the grassroots development which is the focus of the academy
Jameel Ansary (Development Coach)
Coach Jameel has over 25 years of coaching experience coaching at local clubs like Lesco, Lenasia Wolves and Bellevue. Coach Jameel holds a D License certifcate and has attended numerous coaching clinics in Gauteng. He also has experience as being part of the technical team of a few local clubs. The experience that Coach Jameel provides is an integral part of the academy especially for juniors. He strongly believes in the idea of setting a strong foundation for the academy and that is why he imparts his knowledge to the under 5 -10s. This age is critical as the players will take what they have learnt throughout their football lives. Getting it right in terms of technique is extremely important at this age , getting it wrong can be disastrous and makes it very difficult for the player and future coaches. Coach Jameel is no doubt a huge bonus to the academy and we are happy to have him.
Doctor Baloyi (Senior - Head Coach)
Coach Doctor has completed the D License and has joined the academy as the Head Coach of our senior team. Coach Doctor has played professionally in South Africa and we are confident that he will pass his knowledge and experience to the senior team. The senior team is currently playing in the Deep South LFA trying to achieve promotion to the highly sought after SB (Castle) League. We have no doubt Coach Doctor will excel with this group of young men.
Yaseen Hassen (Under 15 Head Coach)
Coach Yaseen has shown tremendous potential in being an excellent coach and this is why we are so pleased to have him as part of the family. Coach Yaseen is a qualified Physical Education Teacher and has been at the forefront of nurturing his extremely talented under 15 team. Coach Yaseen is currently on the D License Coaching Course and will be completing it soon. This will help in giving Coach Yaseen the theory behind all his practical knowledge. Coach Yaseen is a strong disciplined coach who aspires to his team playing good precise football and he is definitely a huge plus at our academy.
Kashvir Beharie (Under 13 Head Coach)
Coach Kashvir has studied coaching at the ETA College and specialized in sports and fitness studies. This has really assisted him in becoming an excellent youth coach. We have entrusted him with the Under 13s to mould and nurture them into players who are ready to compete at high levels. Coach Kashvir is a D License coach and holds a national diploma in coaching with a science specialization in football. Coach Kashvir has covered sports and fitness as well as football conditioning which assists the entire academy from development through to the promotion team. He has gained valuable theoritical and practical knowledge and is a huge asset to the academy
Rodney Jivan (Under 13 Assistant Coach)
Coach Rodney has just recently joined the academy and has really excelled in taking the under 13's to the next level. His passion is what drives him and has created extremely fun but engaging sessions. He has gone the extra mile in coaching these young boys and has given heart and soul for what he does - we really cannot ask for more at the academy.