AmaZulu strike youth development partnership with Levante to create Spanish pathway

AmaZulu have announced a strategic youth development partnership with Spanish La Liga club Levante Union Deportiva (UD), creating a potential pathway into Spain for young footballers from KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.

The agreement was unveiled at Moses Mabhida Stadium at an event attended by representatives of Levante, AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu and other club officials.

AmaZulu chief executive Sinenjabulo Zungu-Ntuli said the partnership had been under discussion for several months, with Russel and Dawoni also involved in the process. Dawoni was absent from the announcement while completing a FIFA course.

“It’s been a couple of months we’ve been working on this, myself, Russel and Dawoni who is absent today,” Zungu-Ntuli said. “She’s developing herself, she’s doing a FIFA course. It’s been an interesting journey but I think the conversations that we had with Marko who was facilitating this partnership made it very clear to us that this is the path that we should be taking.”

She said the agreement would involve a range of activities intended to strengthen the development of young players at AmaZulu.

“We’re very excited about the partnership, it is going to come with a lot of activities and development for the young people of AmaZulu,” she added. “I think like Sinesipho has already said, it speaks to the active and practical steps we are taking to ensure that our academy is at the level that we want it to be at.”

AmaZulu are the only club in KwaZulu-Natal with a full academy structure, covering age groups from under-13 to under-19, according to Zungu-Ntuli.

“I think it’s no secret AmaZulu is the only club in KZN with a full academy, a development structure from U13 to U19 and we take pride in that,” she said. “So, I’m happy to announce that AmaZulu has a partnership with Levante from Spain.”

The agreement is part of the club’s ambition to have a senior squad largely made up of academy graduates by the time AmaZulu mark their centenary in 2032.

“By the time AmaZulu reaches its centenary our ambition is for the majority of our squad to be home grown talent,” Zungu-Ntuli said. “Players who have grown through our system, players who understand our culture and understand what it means to wear this green badge.”

She described the partnership as a link between KwaZulu-Natal and the wider international football environment, offering young players and staff exposure to overseas expertise and methods.

“It gives us an opportunity to expose our young players and our staff to international knowledge, international methodologies and international standards,” she said.

Zungu-Ntuli added that the name of another partner mentioned at the event would be revealed later, saying the relationship represented more than an agreement between two clubs.