The Gauteng provincial finals of
the under-12 Danone Nations Cup competition will take place at the WJ Clements
Stadium in Reiger Park, Boksburg, on Saturday 11th June. Kick-off 10am.
That’s
the venue where the competition’s national tournament will take place, two
weeks later, and the Gauteng winners will be joining the other 8 provincial
champions there, vying for the South African title, and the chance to represent
the country at the Danone Nations Cup world finals in France later in the year.
Johannesburg’s
Bree Primary School did just that last year and went to Morocco as the country’s
representatives.
They
are back at the provincials again this year, after beating Makola Primary on
penalties in their regional final last week.
School
principal and team manager, Dave Kalicharan, is relieved his school is back in
the running again, but says it was not an easy ride considering his team is not
as strong as previous years and every school they have played against to date
has gone all out to beat them.
He
admits that lots of work needs to be done this week. “We need to work on
our defence,” he said, “our ball control is weak and there seems to be a
confidence issue.”
At
this stage he is not even contemplating who their opposition will be at the
provincials. “Every year the teams are different and you never know what
to expect so at the moment all we know is that the provincials won’t be easy.”
His trump card is that two of the players from last year’s
champion team are back in action this year including: Vusi Mputhi, who is the
team captain this year and the goalkeeper Mncedisi Nguse, who is now part of
the Orlando Pirates Academy and also went for trials at Sundowns.
“They
are great motivators to the rest of the team because they have experience in
the DNC and understand the pressure of playing against other international
teams,” Kalicharan said.
Two
of the 2015 players were chosen to join the Orlando Pirates Aacdemy: Mncedisi
Nguse and Tshegofatso Ngke.
Kalicharan
believes the journey to Morocco significantly benefitted the players. “They are
not as shy, more focused, more positive and more motivated,” he said. “They pay
attention better and have more confidence.”
There will be two teams joining the eight district
winners at this year’s provincial finals, and one of them is the Deutsche
Internationale Schule Johannesburg, winners of the 2015 under-11 knockout cup
organised by the Johannesburg Primary Schools Football Association.
Their coach, Morgan van Rooyen, is excited that his
team is participating in this prestigious competition.
“What is enticing is the fact that it has an
international component attached,” he said. “Bree Primary experienced that in
Morocco last year and that will give them valuable experience and make them
very tough opponents at the provincial finals.”
The school has a rich history and will be turning
126 years old this year. It was originally established to serve the children of
Germans living in SA, but in 1989 they opened the school to all South Africans
and started offereing bursaries to kids from poorer backgrounds.
Van Rooyen is a former Kaizer Chiefs and Wits
development team player. Injury cut his playing career short, so he decided to
go into coaching. He has a SAFA C License (Level 1 Coaching certificate),
and has coached at the school for the past 3 years.
The players in the team are all South African, but
many of their parents come from different parts of the world. Two of them,
Bjorn Frohlinch and Jurgen Pommersheim, have German parents and have been
invited to trials at a German club.
In 2015 a Spanish Academy, Premier Soccer
Institution (PSI), came to SA to run workshops and soccer clinics and all
Gauteng schools were invited to attend. From his school 6 players were
invited to go a step further and attend additional workshops and clinics in
Spain in July.
Rosebank Primary, who finished
within the top 8 in the Under 11 2015 under-11 knockout cup, will also be
competing as the second Invitational school.
Sunnyside Primary School from Tshwane will also be
competing on Saturday.
Phila Pereira, their coach, knows that the
provincial finals will be a different ball game to the regionals.
“Bree will be our biggest competition,” he said.
“Their team is very strong and the coach has good coaching skills having taken
the school twice to the world finals”.
An added advantage, Periera believes, is that all
his boys play for the Blue Stars Football Club, who compete in the Soccer
Association of Pretoria league, which they have been competing in for the past
2 years. “Playing consistently, and competitively will help as they are
used to the pressure that goes with playing at this level.”
The competing teams include:
Ekurhuleni: Sonqoba Primary School
Ekhurleni: Phomolong Primary School
Tshwane: Sunnyside Primary School
Tshwane: TBC
Johannesburg: Mayibuye Primary School (Ivory Park)
Johannesburg: Bree Primary School
West Rand: Mayibuye Primary
School (Dobsonville)
Sedibeng: Seeiso Primary School
Invitational: Deutsche Internationale Schule
Invitational: Rosebank Primary
School
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