The provincial finals of the Copa Coca-Cola under 18 soccer tournament continue this coming weekend with the top Free State, North West and Limpopo regional teams fighting it out for the Provincial title - and its R40 000 cash prize.
Guaranteed a place in the national finals so far is Mohlodi High School (Gauteng), Freddie Sithole High School (Mpumalanga), Groutville High School (KwaZulu – Natal), Kakamas High School (Northern Cape) and Ndamase Senior Secondary School (Eastern Cape). The pressure in other provinces is building up as to who will join the ranks of Provincial winners on Saturday, 19th March, and goes through to the nationals.
The five Regional finalists taking to the pitch this weekend for the Free State title are: Harmony High School (Lejweleputswa Region), Ntsu High School (Thabo Mofutsanyane Region), Thabo Vuyo High School (Xhariep Region), Nkgopoleng High School (Fezile Dabi Region) and Louis Botha High School (Motheo Region). Last year’s winners, Harmony High School, will be relying on their ferocious strikers Letlhogonolo Mokoena and Lerato Manzini to defend their title at Grobler Park in Bethlehem.
Limpopo’s provincial winning team will be decided at the Malamulele Stadium where Benny’s Care Academy (Vhembe Region), Kgwana Secondary School from (Mopani Region), Makgoka High School (Capricorn Region], Phagameng High School (Waterberg Region) and Mahloromela High School (Sekhukhune Region) will play it out to dethrone reigning champions Matsambo High School.
Ganyesa Stadium will be the place to be to see North West Province’s top four teams battling it out on Saturday. Last year’s winners, Seiphemelo High School, were knocked out at the district level and therefore pose no threat for the remaining competitors Thuto Boswa Secondary School (Dr Kenneth Kaunda), Sol Plaaitjie High School (Ngaka Modiri Molema Region), Ikopanyeng Secondary School (Dr Ruth Mopati Region) and Eletsa High School (Bojanala Region). Eletsa are in a strong position for this year’s competition, having won the Provincial round and ranking fifth in the Nationals in 2009. Eletsa’s team manager, Daniel Mhlongo, is upbeat about his team’s chances this coming weekend.
“Our main goal is to qualify for the National finals, but we will first need to reclaim our Provincial title,” says Mhlongo. “I don’t expect that to be difficult - considering the reigning champions will not be competing.”
He points out that this is the fifth year that Eletsa will be taking part in the tournament. The first two years were difficult and the team was knocked out in the early stages of the competition. However, things started changing in 2009, and Mhlongo believes the squad is now fully prepared for the high standard of play and level of professionalism the Copa Coca-Cola is now known for.
But there is more to Copa Coca-Cola than finding the top Under 18 school soccer team. Coca-Cola is known to sponsors sport at the highest level - like its FIFA World Cup sponsorship - but is also committed to social development. Copa Coca-Cola was envisaged to be the development programme and talent showcase it is today to address the needs of SA soccer as identified by SAFA (South African Football Association), according to Temba Nobanda, brand manager of Coca-Cola South Africa.
“It creates the platform for high school players interested in a professional football career to be seen by scouts from SAFA as well as the PSL and First Division teams,” Nobanda explains. “Coca-Cola realises that with a strong development programme in place to identify talent that can be nurtured. These youngsters will turn into professional footballers and role models - and bring success to future national teams.”
Approximately 60 000 youngsters from more than 3 000 schools have participated in this year’s Copa Coca-Cola so far. The top three teams in the National finals will receive money for a school legacy project of their choice. National winners will receive R150 000, second place winners receive R100 000 and third place R60 000.This is over and above the R40 000 that Provincial winners can pocket.
The final Provincial final, that of the Western Cape, is scheduled to take place the following Saturday, 26 March, and conclude the pPovincial rounds of the tournament.
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