Football training and development is gaining momentum in Lesotho. Thousands of young boys and girls are being professionally trained at the Kick4life center in Maseru.  But for the organization, it’s more than just training and development, it’s using football to empower young people and keep them off the streets.

"They get full-time education, full-time football, so we play football every day and they're also part of a character development program. The long term plan is to send them to the US for scholarships," said Darren Wiltshire, head coach at Kick4life academy. 

Eight young boys, who are part of the Kick4Life Academy, have been granted full-time scholarships and will be trained professionally in the US.

"In Lesotho, there's a really good natural-born manipulation level. So, they've all got very good skills on the ball to beat a player. There aren't any actual competitive leagues here for children. So, the children are not really used to playing matches and that if I'm honest the one issue we're trying to develop in them is a desire to win," Wiltshire noted.

Kick4Life has been running for 11 years now in Maseru. Thousands of kids from all over Lesotho come through the academy, and while the organization is primarily focused on developing football skills, it also has a big focus on developing life skills as well as providing HIV and Aids treatment.

Lesotho has one of the highest rates of HIV infections in Africa. Kick4life is using its development programs to change this: all students are tested, and counselling and treatment is also provided.

"Football to me is like something like life because for now I'm using it in my education to make sure that I succeed in life. I feel very happy, even though it's not an easy journey because you have to always work hard in order to stay in the academy," said Tumeliso Ratsiu, scholarship beneficiary at Kick4life academy.

"I want to play for Real Madrid because it has the best player in the world: Cristiano Ronaldo. So, I also want to be the best player in the world. I love Cristiano Ronaldo because he's giving us a great example to reach where he is right now," said Lebeko Moalosi, another scholarship beneficiary.

Lesotho has never qualified for the African Cup of Nations or the World Cup. The idea is to get these young boys to compete in some of the best leagues in the world, earn a good living and maybe someday take the most coveted honors in the game.