Knee injury hasn’t stopped SuperSport United Soccer Schools’ Keagan Hearz

Keagan Hearz’s dream of becoming a professional soccer player crumbled in front of his eyes after suffering a career-ending knee injury during his rise to soccer stardom.

Hearz did not let the injury setback end his love for the game. As a passionate soccer enthusiast, Hearz took advantage of an opportunity with SuperSport United Soccer Schools, a soccer development academy, to train and develop youngsters to be soccer stars that he would have wanted to be.

He played for Balfour for fours years. After gaining momentum from the club, he joined the Tuks academy, where he suffered the knee injury.

This mentor uses the Ruimsig Country Club to host his training sessions and has been doing it for three years.

He told Roodepoort Northsider that he trains different age groups throughout the week and coaches certain divisions when there are soccer matches. Hearz explained how he teaches discipline through soccer.

“I keep them motivated and allow them to make mistakes and let them be themselves on the field. The harder [they] work, the better the discipline, but if [a player] chooses to play around, they end up losing.”

Zakes Plati, father of young soccer player Khanyile, gave the academy a thumbs-up because of the opportunities and educational experience instilled in the programme.

“This programme helps keep our children busy. It keeps our kids away from the streets where they would get exposed to drugs and alcohol,” he said.

Hearz said 80 per cent of the boys turn pro soccer players when they grow up.

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