The KwaZulu-Natal
provincial finals of the under-12 Danone nations Cup soccer tournament will be
held at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Claremont on Saturday 14th May.
Among the 12
finalists are schools who have been regular participants at provincial level;
some who have been playing in the tournament for years without reaching this
level before; and a few who are entering the competition for the first time
this year.
Zandile Primary
School from Umlazi, Durban has been competing in the tournament since 2012, but
this is the first time they have reached the provincial finals.
Coach, Siya
Shangashe, is from outside the school and is happy that at last they have made
it to the provincials. “This is a great achievement for us and the atmosphere
at the school is electrifying. The team was acknowledged at assembly and the
choir sang a special song for them to mark their achievement.”
Shangashe said that
he is now focusing on the psyche of the players. “It isn’t easy dealing with
young players. They tend to lose confidence if they don’t excel in a game. It
is important to encourage kids all the time.”
Shangashe has no
coaching qualifications, nor did he play the game at a high level. He does run
a local soccer team called Strikers FC in his area in Umlazi where he coaches
under-12, 13 and 15 players.
He tries to learn
more about the game by watching teams like Man United City and Barcelona, and
tries to teach the skill she sees to his team.
There are two
players in the team that the coach hopes will make in impact at the
provincials. They are defender, Wonderboy Dlamini, who blocks with
determination; and midfielder, Kwanele Nyawose, who has been with the team
since he was 10 and has a lot of experience in the tournament.
Ophuzane Primary
School from Zululand played in the KZN provincial finals in the 2010, 2011 and
2012 but has never made it to the national finals. The closest they have
come is provincial runners up in 2011.
Bheki Buthelezi,
the team manager and coach Azaria Ndwed are both teachers at the school and
have been working well together for a long time.
Ndwedwe, like most
of the coaches at this level, has no formal coaching education and learns from
reading books on development as well as by watching local PSL games on TV.
He finds the lack
of confidence of the players his main concern. “The players were surprised to
be told that we topped the log and are in the provincial finals,” he said.
A lack of
confidence and self-belief seems to a common problem among the schools playing
in the competition. Sindawonye Primary School coach, Clifford Mnasi, has found
the same thing.
Sindawonye are
competing in the Danone Nations Cup for the first time and Mnasi is surprised
his team has made it this far in their first year.
“Preparations are
going well but the kids are nervous as they know that competing in the provincials
will be a different experience,” he said. “They come from a rural area so
they don’t have enough facilities nor are there many soccer tournaments so it
will be a first for them.”
Mnasi is a teacher
at the school with no formal coaching qualifications. He is focussing on attack
ahead of the provincials. “They need to focus more on their execution when it
comes to scoring, distributing the ball fast to their teammates and controlling
the ball,” he said.
The schools
participating in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial finals are:
1.
Sisonke district: Sindawonye Primary School
2.
Zululand district: Ophuzane Primary School
3.
UMzinyathi district: Ithaka Primary School
4.
Pinetown district: Kastruba Gandhi
5.
UThungulu district: Snaye Primary School
6.
UMkhanyakude district: Dumile Primary
School
7.
ILembe district: Dinuphuzo Primary School
8.
Amajuba district: Sipheni Senior School
9.
Uthukela district: Inkunzi Primary School
10.
UMgungundlovu district: Mthethomusha Primary School
11.
UMlazi district : Zandile Primary School
12. Ugu
district: Delihlazo Primary School
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