So I have been in South Africa for 9 days now so to begin with, I'd firstly just like to say a big thank you to everyone I have crossed paths with so far: to the people of Nkomazi, Zenzele and Mamelodi, to the families, children, players, coaches and to the Youthzones team who have all welcomed me fantastically and you have all made me feel part of your respective teams and communities which I greatly appreciate.

Last week, on my forth day I went to Nkomazi (specifically the KMQ academy) and did a training session with the players at the stadium. Something I noticed from the start was the willingness to learn and to participate under a new coaching style that they may not have come across before. The atmosphere up there was brilliant and there seemed to be a 'buzz' around the place as 5 of the boys just got selected to train with Sundowns, so  I personally would like to congratulate Brown, Essien, Messi, Robinho and Zambrotta for their selection. I was impressed with the tenacity and the pace that the players played with and they passed the ball around with great fluidity. The boys and girls in this session played, listened and responded to instruction impeccably and were a credit to their team and the coaches.

My next trip was to Zenzele and the first thing that caught my eye was the two female coaches that were training the older and younger teams. It was a surprise for me to see this as we have a lack of female coaches in England (even though it is improving) so I took about 5-10 minutes observing the warm-up of both sides. I was impressed to say the least; not only due to the warm-up exercises included a pulse raising exercise but it also included rhythm and clapping and I am a firm believer of integrating this into exercise to maintain the players concentration. However I was most impressed was the respect that the coaches had EARNED from the players and the coaches of Zenzele should be very proud of this. I did some fun games with the younger players and I hope you all enjoyed the session.

Last but not least I went to Mamelodi yesterday and after greeting the guys down there, we were quick into a game. I was not only impressed by the skill, footwork and flair of certain individuals, but the unity, the friendship and the bond between everyone up there was truly admirable. If the ball was lost by a player (including me countless times), there was no arguing or moaning, but there was encouragement and help from teammates which really impressed me and I hope this continues during my future visits there.

So thats it for the first three sites, I hope I haven't bored you! Thank you all again for being so welcoming, it truly is humbling. Don't forget, no matter how good you are, you can always learn something off someone else.

Keep up the good work,

The English One,

Jonny.

Email: j_lee114@hotmail.co.uk