This week the Siya crew caught up with youth coach and AllOutScout founder, Kosta Scholiadis, in an exclusive Q&A.
In this week’s edition of Soccer Laduma, issue 948, we invited you, our readers, to log onto the Soccer Laduma Supporters Club, where you can read an exclusive interview with Scholiadis.
The Siya crew’s Joe Crann got in touch with the youth coach. Hope you enjoy the read. Cheers... Eddie.
Joe Crann: Kosta, you’re working in youth football at the moment. What got you involved in the game in the first place? And why youth?
Kosta Scholiadis: Football has been a passion of mine since I was a young kid. Having finished my studies at UCT, I made it my priority to get into the industry I love and enjoy. I believe that I have a great ability to coach football and after having gained experience and the relevant coaching courses overseas, I joined the Ajax academy working as assistant to Duncan Crowie with the u17s. I enjoy giving players hope that they can take that next step and also being the one to show them the way.
JC: You’re not an agent, but you’re trying to help them out with AllOutScout, can you tell us a bit about it?
KS: My primary objective with AllOutScout is to help the players that do not have the football connections first and foremost! It is they players that entertain us, that provide us with this wonderful game and it is the hidden gems that we at AllOutScout are trying to unearth. With that core objective in mind, we effectively help agents, scouts and clubs in a way that works for them as well as the players. AllOutScout is a user driven platform which will grow into a powerful database of talent. Scouts and agents will be able to choose from an endless database of talent which they can engage with directly.
JC: How did AOS come about for you? Was it just your idea?
KS: I was fortunate to have met my partner, Duan Baker, at the Ajax academy. We got along instantly and he helped me find my feet at the club. From there, our working relationship grew into running a soccer development programme. Duan one day called me up and said he has a great idea to improve the scouting system. After a few conversations, we realised this could be revolutionary. Ever since then, we have been on an entrepreneurial journey to develop this company into what it has become today and more.
JC: Ajax Cape Town are already on board, how have they benefitted and how can others benefit from it?
KS: Ajax is the club that provides young talent with a real opportunity to make it professionally in the PSL. They also have a link to Europe through Amsterdam. We are trying to unearth football talent and what better way than through the most promising club in Africa. Ajax will provide the youth of our country even more opportunities to play at the highest level, while AllOutScout will enable Ajax to extend its reach. The partnership will show the football world that AllOutScout and Ajax together are the forward thinking brands that revolutionised the scouting process. But the system is not just for Ajax to use. Any club can make the most of this public platform.
JC: If agents want to make use of AOS, how can they?
KS: They can create profiles for their players and then upload videos for them. At the moment we only have "Basic" accounts for scouts and general users, and "Player" accounts for the players. We are already looking to add "Agent" accounts who will link with Player accounts.
JC: Lots of players hope to play overseas, can AOS help with that too?
KS: The wonderful thing about our platform is that it is public. Player videos are publicly visible and anyone anywhere in the world can view talented players on the system and engage with them. It is free to use on a public scale. Players and scouts do not pay for our services. The reason for this is that our primary objective is not to exclude anyone due to finances. We want to bring the entire football community together on one platform.
JC: Thanks for your time, Kosta.
KS: Pleasure, Joe.
