Laurence Rathenam, the principal
of Restvale Methodist Primary School, in Beaufort West, and manager of
their under-12 soccer team has nicknamed his team “Die miere” (the ants)
because of the way they all work hard together for a common purpose, and it’s
that attitude, he believes, that has made them Western Cape champions in the
under-12 Danone Nations Cup.
They took the title at the
provincial finals in Mossel Bay on 6th June and, although Rathenham
has lost count of how many times they have entered the tournament, this is the
first time they will be going to the national finals.
“When we were knocked out at the
regional finals last year our plan was to win in 2015 and we did just that,” he
said. “Now that we have achieved that goal we can start focusing on the bigger
picture which is the nationals.”
The Restvale team is a mixture of
experienced and new players and Rathenham believes that’s a good thing because
the older players have taken on a “big brother” role and are helping the
younger ones.
“The team has amazed me. They
have listened to instructions and have lived up to the Danone Nations Cup motto
which is ‘believe in your dreams’,” he said. “They have proved to me that they
are committed to winning this tournament and I believe that they will if they
continue along the same path.”
Rathenham is a professional
referee who took charge of the team this year. He has enlisted the help of
Vernon Reyners, a coach at one of the local clubs, to prepare the team for the
provincials. “He is an excellent coach and has brought in some technical
aspects that have proved successful,” Rathenham said.
The provincial finals were tough
as they didn’t know what to expect, but the boys weren’t nervous or
intimidated, Rathenham said. “We were impressed at how they managed to maintain
their cool and we hope that they do that in the national finals in Gauteng on
27th June.”
The team has a lot of talented
players, and Rathenham said he is proud of all of them, but there were 3
shining stars: defender Kenneth Booysen, midfielder Jeremy Oosthuizen and
striker Chad Solomons, who scored 3 goals at the provincial finals.
“We have the backing of the
school, the parents and the entire community. Playing in the nationals will be
a first for us and let’s hope that our team will be the first Western Cape team
to play in the world finals in Morocco in October,” said Rathenham.
The team is taking a short break
to recuperate from the provincial finals before they get down to preparing for
the nationals.
Results
Imakaya
2 vs Erika 0
Masakhane
0 (2) vs Restvale 0 (1)
Naphakade
0 (1) vs Kleinberg 0 (2)
Mzoxolo
0 (5) vs Reitenbosch 0 (4)
Imakaya
0 vs Naphakade 2
Masakhane
0 vs Mzoxolo 2
Erika
0 vs Kleinberg 2
Restvale
1 (3) vs Reitenbosch 1 (2)
Kleinberg
1 vs Imakaya 0
Reitenbosch
2 (3) vs Masakhane 2 (2)
Naphakade
1 vs Erika 0
Mzoxolo
0 vs Restvale 1
Final
Kleinberg
0 (2) vs Restvale Primary 0 (3)
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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