WZ Academy has been named Sports Academy of the Year at the London & South East England Prestige Awards 2025/26, a recognition that celebrates the very best small and medium-sized businesses across the region.
For us, this award belongs to every coach, every parent, and every young player who has stepped onto the pitch with us since 2021. It reflects what we set out to do from day one: build a youth football academy where children don’t just develop their skills, but grow in confidence, make lasting friendships, and feel genuinely welcome, regardless of ability, background, or experience.
What Are the Prestige Awards?
The Prestige Awards recognise outstanding SMEs and independent businesses that consistently go above and beyond within their local communities. Nominees are evaluated across strict criteria: service excellence, innovative practices, ethical and sustainable working methods, and consistency of positive client feedback over the past 12 months.
All shortlisted organisations are asked to support their nomination with evidence of their work, client testimonials, and details of what makes them different from others in their field. The judging panel then selects winners who can best demonstrate strength across every category.
Being named Sports Academy of the Year for London and South East England means WZ Academy has been independently recognised as a benchmark for grassroots sports development in the region.
How WZ Academy Earned This Recognition
Quality Coaching That Puts Young People First
From the very beginning, WZ Academy has been built on one principle: put the child first, football second. Our coaching team connects with every young person on a personal level before focusing on technical development. We call it person-first coaching, and it creates a psychologically safe environment where children can express themselves on the pitch, try new things, and learn without the fear of making mistakes.
Our staff are UEFA-qualified professionals with experience at the highest levels of the game. The team includes Dan, our Academy Director, a former teammate of Wilfried Zaha and a Premier League Academy coach; Evellyn, our UEFA Licensed Head Coach who has been with the academy since day one; and Isata, a former professional player for Crystal Palace and Millwall Lionesses who also founded a football club in Sierra Leone.
Whether your child is joining a holiday camp for the first time or preparing for club trials through a tailored 1-on-1 development programme, the standard of coaching remains the same.
Breaking Down Barriers to Grassroots Football
Access matters. WZ Academy actively works to ensure that football is open to every child in South London, not just those whose families can afford premium programmes or who live near elite facilities.
Our community initiatives include free Girls Only football days designed to boost confidence and grow female participation in the sport, sibling discounts that ease the financial burden on local families, and partnerships with schools and councils to reach and support vulnerable children. We have also partnered with organisations like First Aid 4 All to teach life-saving skills alongside football development, ensuring our programmes contribute to children’s growth well beyond the pitch.
This work sits at the heart of what The Football Association’s current strategy identifies as critical to the future of the grassroots game: removing barriers, growing female participation, and ensuring every child has a positive first experience of football. As Sport England’s research highlights, grassroots football is uniquely positioned to influence communities and tackle inequalities in physical activity, and that is precisely the space WZ Academy operates in every day.
Consistent Growth, Consistent Values
Since launching in 2021, WZ Academy has grown its footprint across Bromley, Thornton Heath, and Kenley while staying true to the mission that started it all. Co-founded by Premier League star Wilfried Zaha, the academy was born from a simple observation: when Wilfried arrived in Thornton Heath as a child, there were no community clubs and no organised football. Everything revolved around kickabouts in the park with his brothers.
That absence of opportunity stuck. WZ Academy exists to make sure the next generation of young people in South London never face the same gap. Today, we cater to boys and girls aged 4 to 12 of all ability levels, running holiday camps, weekly sessions, and bespoke coaching programmes across multiple venues in the borough.
Wilfried remains actively involved in the academy’s direction, regularly checking in to ensure it consistently delivers on its founding vision of inclusivity and excellence.
What This Means for Our Families
This award is validation, but it is not the finish line. It tells us we are getting it right: the coaching, the environment, the community work, the values. And it motivates us to keep pushing further, reaching more children, and creating more opportunities for young people across South East London and beyond.
If you would like to be part of what we are building, whether that is a holiday camp, weekly coaching, or a 1-on-1 development session, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with our team and find out how your child can join us on the pitch.