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Stekelenburg new Ajax coach

Johannesburg - Ajax Cape Town have released a statement to announce that Maarten Stekelenburg has been appointed as the man to replace Foppe de Haan.

An official press release reads:

Ajax Cape Town is proud to announce that Maarten Stekelenburg has been appointed as their new Head Coach.

George Comitis, the Ajax Cape Town CEO said, "It was always going to be challenging to fill the shoes of Foppe De Haan. We deliberated at length on this decision, on whether to get another experienced coach or whether we should be viewing this in a different light.

Our philosophy has always been based on Youth Development and over the past 11 years we have failed with the longevity of a coach. We believe that we have now found the right man that suites our vision and can build on the foundation laid by Foppe De Haan.

Maarten Stekelenburg is a young energetic and ambitious coach. He has been coaching since the age of 16 and joined Ajax Amsterdam in 1999. He spent 10 years in the youth structures at Ajax Amsterdam eventually coaching "Jong Ajax", before coming to South Africa for the last 2½ years as Head of Youth Development.

He is our first "true Ajax coach" with an imbedded philosophy of youth development, total football and individual coaching methods.

In his 2½ years in Cape Town, Maarten has learned about the diverse cultures of our players and their backgrounds. He has worked with Foppe and the PSL team for a month in January, and spent endless hours picking Foppe's brain on a daily basis over the last 18 months.

Maarten has earned the respect of the PSL players, with his character and man management skills he will assist them to develop further.

We, the Ajax Cape Town management believe that we have found the right man for the job and he has the full support of all the stakeholders of Ajax Cape Town.

We, not only have the infrastructure to develop players, but also to develop coaches. It is becoming a world trend to see young, upcoming coaches becoming Head Coaches of "Big Teams" and winning trophies accordingly."

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