Kevin Sheedy’s willingness to explore different AFL recruiting opportunities has led to South African Bayanda Sobetwa joining the fledgling Greater Western Sydney team.
The 19-year-old from the Khayelitsha Township, near Cape Town, will join Greater Western Sydney on a scholarship.
He is the first international recruit for GWS, where Sheedy is the inaugural coach.
One of Sheedy’s traits during his legendary 27-year reign as Essendon coach was his enthusiasm for radical recruitment ideas.
Sheedy was a key factor behind the boom in the number of indigenous players in the AFL.
Sobetwa started playing AFL three years ago and was quickly identified as a talent.
He trained with North Melbourne late last year after representing South Africa against the AFL Academy squad in 2008-09.
“It’s great to see that the time we have spent in South Africa is starting to bear some real opportunities for these kids that may never have had the chance to play top level sport,” Sheedy said in a GWS statement.
GWS are scheduled to become the AFL’s 18th team in 2012.
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