teenagers performing at the Asec Mimosa Academy, Abidjan

The humidity was unbearable and the sun beat on the top of my head like Rio carnival drums. I couldn’t believe that these young kids could play football at such a blistering pace in these conditions. The teenagers at the Asec Mimosa Academy are some of the most gifted and hard working footballers in Africa. The Academy has been described as the “Crown jewell of African football” and offers players not just coaching but also an education.

We were here to make a film about football in Ivory Coast. With their appearance at the 2010 World Cup imminent and Ivorian Striker Didier Drogba claiming the English Premier League Golden Boot it seemed the perfect time to visit. I’d never heard of Mimosas before but they are one of the top Club sides in Africa and have been supplying talent to European leagues for a long time. Former players include Saloman kalou, Emmanuel Eboue and brothers Yaya and Kolo Toure.

Mimosa Academy training, taken using hipstamatic on my i-phone

So what is the secret of their success? Well, there are many. Firstly it is well funded by local investors and its sponsor, Sifca – one of West Africa’s biggest agro-businesses. This funding allows excellent facilities including two well kept pitches, a fully functioning school and a dorms for the kids to stay in. They also have a busy team of scouts who scour Ivory Coast looking for potential.

The problem though, and this goes for all of Africa, is keeping hold of their talented youngsters. Nearly all of their National squad play in Europe and all of the young players aspire to move abroad at the first opportunity. There is still little money to be made in local African leagues, the average first division player in Ivory Coast earns just two hundred and thirty Euros a month. Attendances are tiny, even big games struggle to achieve a crowd bigger than a few hundred. These problems mean it is unlikely that in the near future an African team will be strong enough to win the World Cup, but they are developing quickly and from what I saw at Mimosas the next generation promise to keep pushing the boundaries of what the continent can achieve.

As the training came to an end I filmed as the kids removed their boots and began a series of drills using a tennis ball. Amazingly they were able to perform keep-ups without dropping it. They then did a co-ordination routine that involved a series of complicated dance steps. I couldn’t imagine English players being able to maintain a straight face while clapping and dancing but to the Ivorians it is an important aspect of their skills training. It seemed to be working.

For our finished film on the BBC then check out this link. . .