By Nenneh Fofanah
Freetown, 29th December 2025- Former Leone Stars captain and FC Cincinnati striker Kei Kamara’s HeartShapeHands Foundation project has received high-profile support from Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger and Sierra Leone national team captain Mustapha Bundu. The two players recently visited the proposed academy site at Boama Village, During Town, where construction is underway.
The academy, described as a major boost for grassroots football, will feature a main football field, training and medical facilities, classrooms, a resource library, dormitories, staff quarters, practice fields, volleyball and basketball courts, computer labs, and even mangrove research facilities. The goal is to combine sports training with education, giving young Sierra Leoneans both athletic and academic opportunities.
Kamara, who founded the HeartShapeHands Foundation in 2009, said he feels blessed to bring such a project home. He explained that the academy is not fully funded by him alone, noting support from Chicago Fire FC owner Joe Mansueto, and called on Sierra Leoneans who believe in football and education to contribute. “This is about more than playing the game. It’s about teaching aspiring footballers the tactical and educational side of football,” Kamara said. He added that 70 percent of recruits will be on scholarship, while the remaining 30 percent will self-fund, with proceeds reinvested into the academy.
Rudiger praised Kamara as “a football legend and an inspiration,” calling the project “amazing” and pledging his full support. He also urged greater inclusivity in Sierra Leone’s football development, especially for women and persons with disabilities. Rudiger revealed he is building a sports facility in his hometown of Kono and assured fans that he intends to remain at Real Madrid.
Bundu, meanwhile, described Kamara as his role model and the project as “life-changing.” He emphasized that the academy will not only nurture football talent but also provide quality education and job opportunities. Drawing from his own experience in a football academy, Bundu advised future recruits “not to take anything for granted and to work hard, knowing there is a bigger goal.”
The HeartShapeHands Academy is being hailed as a landmark initiative that could transform Sierra Leone’s football landscape while opening doors for the next generation of athletes and scholars.
