ABOUT STARS OF AFRICA

The Stars of Africa platform was launched in 2018 by Amr Mehanna from Egypt and Wouter Lagendijk from the Netherlands - founders and partners of StarLab Sports Development.

We strongly believe that Africa has a huge potential to deliver more international Football Stars in the next decade and even win the World Cup. We therefore want to give African talents a well-structured and realistic pathway to live their dream to become a national or international football star. A Continental Platform that breeds competition and glory and build up an environment to honor the skills of our African talents.

our vision

OUR VISION

We strongly believe that football unites and offers a great opportunity to open new pathways for the people of Africa; empowering kids to change their reality, perspective on life and become stars both off and on the field.

To achieve this we are building a Continental Talent Development platform across Africa, supporting the most passionate Football Academies, Universities and Youth Coaches from Africa to develop and expose top quality African youth players.

What are the key success factors of such a continental football development platform?

Coaches with passion for the game and love for the players
World-Class Coaching Manual and CoachingApp
Excellent scouting system and procedures
Proven structures & scientific approaches to educational and physical training of talent
Funding & sponsors to support the development of the youth players
Continuous education of scouts, coaches and parents
A Continental Youth Tournament to give African kids the opportunity to compete with the most talented players in their age group.
More recognition and exposure for African talents

BENEFITS OF THE PLATFORM

The Stars of Africa platform has a lot of benefits for all stakeholders involved;

Football Academies & Universities: the platform is supporting academies and sports departments of African Universities to deliver a more attractive and promising pathway to their players.
Youth Coaches: Get supported to get the most out of their players. The Stars of Africa CoachingApp saves preparation time, makes it easier to evaluate players and make personal development plans so coaches can purely focus on the development of their players. With the CoachingApp also relatively inexperienced coaches are able to provide varied and structural exercises throughout the season, suitable by age and at a minimum of preparation time.
Players: the kids enjoy more structured, effective and focused training sessions and have the possibility to showcase their talents and compete with the best players of Africa.
International Club Scouts: the platform makes it easier and more economic for international club scouts to follow, select and sign the most talented players of Africa.
Ministries of Youth & Sports and Youth Football Associations: a more collective approach and promotional platform across the continent makes it more beneficial and economic for all African countries to further promote and develop their talent identification and development programs.
Sponsors: for sponsors with an interest in the growing African economy it is a good opportunity to increase their brand awareness and social impact.
The people of Africa: football is by far the most popular sport in Africa. The platform is uniting people across the continent, is creating new job opportunities and gives the African kids a platform to shine as a star.

Do you want to join our platform, be a sponsor, partner or have ideas that could be beneficial to achieve our goals? Please don't hesitate to contact us.

Player registration >

Regional partners and SOA Country Representatives

For the success of the Stars of Africa platform, it’s crucial that all the participating countries & academies across Africa speak the same football language, use the same principles and use a well-structured training curriculum for developing youth players. This will create the necessary impact, trust, economies of scale and cross-country learning to achieve our goals.

In every African country and/or African region we are working with passionate country representatives and partners who will be responsible for executing and operating the SOA program and scout the most talented players of their country.

Do you want to be a regional partner or SOA Country representative?

ABOUT STARLAB

The Stars of Africa Continental Talent Development platform is developed by StarLab from the Netherlands in cooperation with a team of technical partners, experienced scouts and youth coaches with a proven track record in talent identification and development.

We are a Premium Sports Development Company. We connect senior industry leaders to develop innovative sports concepts and tailor made solutions to our clients. As an international team we understand different cultures and challenges which allows to successfully execute our projects.

Together with our partners we are developing youth development programs, new methods and insights to grow and identify and develop talent. This includes medical testing, improving scouting, talent assessment and training methods. Giving equal opportunities for talent exposure.

Visit our website >

OUR TECHNICAL PARTNERS

VTON is responsible for developing the Stars of Africa Coaching App and Player App.

An online curriculum for youth players from 5 to 19 years old with coaching tips, animations and everything the coach needs to prepare his training sessions. With more than 250 clubs, 12,000 registered coaches and 500.000 downloads per year, VTON is the home base for youth coaches in the Netherlands.

The Professional Football Scouts Association are the leading providers of scouting and analysis courses to clubs and academies in the world.

At the PFSA we specialize in educating both new and experienced football scouts and analysts, whether its your first time looking to scout for a non- league club to a full time professional at a CAT 1 academy.

SSSM (Superior Squad Sports Management) is one of the largest youth football agencies in the world.

Aiming at providing young talents with a platform of elite programs through which they can pursue their professional careers in top clubs worldwide. SSSM currently operates globally with offices in more than 10 countries and has a large network of partners, agents, scouts and coaches.

One of the best rehabilitation &
performance center in Europe based in Amsterdam - the Netherlands.

Fysiomed is responsible for educating and coaching physiotherapists, sports doctors and personal trainers related to the program according to a proven philosophy and methodology.

“WE ARE WHAT WE REPEATEDLY DO. EXCELLENCE THEN IS NOT AN ACT BUT A HABIT.”