The Ekurhuleni District in
Gauteng kicks-off their road to the under-12 Danone Nations Cup world cup,
taking place in Morocco later this year, when the eight participating schools
meet at Benoni Northerns on 15th April; the winning team will
progress through to the regional finals taking place at Benoni Northerns on 14th
May.
Competing teams are: Farrarmere
Primary School, Rynfield Primary School, Tom Newby School, Benoni West
Primary School, Summersfields Primary School, Laerskool Verkenner, Laerskool
Westwood and Kathstan College
The school that is tipped to win
is Farrarmere Primary, who was beaten on penalties by Siphumelele Primary from
KZN, at the national finals in 2014 and missed the opportunity to play in the
world finals in Brazil.
They are back again this year,
with a new coach, and are determined to go one step further this time.
“The year has started well for
us,” said Coach Moeketsi “Pride” Moorosi, former Orlando Pirates professional
player. “We know all the schools we will be playing against and we have
already won a prestigious tournament this year so the cluster games should be
smooth sailing for us. We are confident that we will be progressing to
the next level in the tournament, but from then onwards we will be challenged.“
Gauteng is one of the most
competitive provinces, the coach said, so meeting up with the schools from the
other districts will not be easy, but he has faith that they will reach the
provincial and national playoffs in the tournament.
“Positivity, focus and self
belief are key principles to a winning team, but I also instil the importance
of having fun and enjoying every game. I tell my players that losing only
means that you have to work extra hard next time around,” he said.
When the players found out that
Moorosi is an ex-professional player, this made them even more hungry to become
professional players themselves. “I try to be humble and grounded,” he said.
“My history is my history and as a coach my job is to help these youngsters
create their own history in football.”
Although Moorosi doesn’t like
singling out individual players, he is excited about his captain, Trent Van Der
Walt. “He plays centre back, he leads the game and the team,” he said. “He will
go places in soccer should he decide to make a career out of it. He also plays
rugby and I hear that he is good at it too.”
Last year Farrarmere had a lot of
support from the parents and the coach hopes it will be the same this time
around. “We believe in parent participation, it’s crucial for the kids,”
Moorosi said. “The parents support the school in every way possible, they raise
funds for the school, they pretty much support us in everything we do, so we
are expecting parents at all our games cheering the boys.”
Ends
About Danone
Danone
Southern Africa is part of the Danone Group, one of the fastest-growing food
companies in the world. Danone is present in over 120 countries across
all continents. With 160 plants and around 100,000 employees, the Danone Group
is the number one worldwide for Fresh Dairy Products. Danone’s mission is to
bring health through food to as many people as possible.
One of the core values of the Danone Nations Cup
tournament is to encourage young people to believe in their dreams. Through
this initiative Danone offers a sporting event that reaches out to and inspires
millions of children all over the world
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