PREPARATIONS ARE GOING WELL FOR REBONWE PRIMARY SCHOOL WHO WILL BE REPRESENTING SOUTH AFRICA IN THE DANONE NATIONS CUP WORLD FINALS

It seems a lifetime ago that Rebonwe coach, Emmanuel Gogela, heard there was going to be a Danone Nations Cup girls tournament this year.  Like most schools, he didn’t have many girls at under-12 level, and those he had competed together with the boys.  But this didn’t stop him and immediately recruited more girls and put a team together and entered the tournament.

Six month later and his team had not only performed well, they had won the trip of a lifetime – to compete in the world finals taking place in Barcelona between 10^th and 12^th October.

To help prepare the girls for the world stage, Danone Southern Africa enlisted the help of acclaimed development coach, SIBUSISO NTSINDE. Sibusiso holds a CAF C Licence and a Coerver Youth Diploma. He attended a Rene Meulensteen Dutch Symposium course as well as a course held by the KNVB in the Netherlands. Recently he won the Future Champs Tournament with the Bidvest Wits under-17 team.

“It’s such a pleasure to be able to assist these young aspiring soccer players,” said Ntsinde.  “It’s very different coaching girls as opposed to boys.  Firstly, girls listen better!  Secondly, they are focused and quick learners. I cannot believe the difference in their performance after 2 weeks with me.  Our first task was to teach the basics of the game as many of the girls have not been playing for long.  They also had to get used to me and the way I coach and to the different techniques and tactics.  Then followed the task of tweaking some of their positions on the field to match their strengths.”

The world finals will not be easy, admits Ntsinde.  “I have seen who their competition will be and most countries will be represented by clubs such as Napoli and Espanyol, whose players have been playing the game since they were 5 or 6 and they will be the best players at this level at their respective clubs, whereas our girls play for the love of the game.  I love every day that I spend with these girls and I enjoy seeing their enthusiasm to want to improve and learn.  I will do my best to prepare them well.  I can see they are getting the concepts, but it is not easy to cram so much so quickly.”

Spain will be a football lesson for the girls, Ntsinde believes.  “They will see teams that are at another level and using different techniques, which will give them something to aspire to.  They must not look down on themselves but rise and look where they can be.  My message to them is to go out there and represent us the best way possible. They should remember that they are the best in the country and, no matter what, they have gone out and fought a battle to get to where they are now.  I can’t wait to see them on their return.  We will evaluate what they learnt and look at where to go next and what do they want to do on the football field in the future.”    

Accompanying Rebonwe Primary in Spain will be Nomlinganiselo from the Western Cape (2018 winners) and Muzuvukile from KZN (2019 boys winners). The teams leave for Barcelona on Monday, 7^th October and will have a couple of days to acclimatise prior to the commencement of the tournament on 10^th October.  On the final day, 12^TH October, the teams will play their final match at the home ground of La Liga club, RCD Espanyol de Barcelona, commonly known as Espanyol.

Also travelling with the team will be Amanda Dlamini, ex Banyana Banyana captain.  She will be with the girls every step of the way, encouraging them, giving advice as well as celebrating and motivating them.

“Barcelona is symbolic as it was in this city in 1919 that Isaac Carasso created the first Danone yogurt with the aim of improving one’s health,” said Masi Mkhize, Communications Manager, Danone Southern Africa.  “We are combining Danone’s Centenary celebrations and the 20^th edition of the world finals in a bumper edition this year.  It also coincides with our new brand positioning and purpose, One Planet One Health, which reflects our belief that the health of humankind and that of the planet are interlinked and both need to be protected and nurtured.

“Through the Danone Nations Cup, we are contributing to bringing this vision to life by promoting the importance of exercise. Further, we are encouraging our young athletes to ‘Play Football, Change the Game’, which is a rallying message to unite children, irrespective of their backgrounds and cultures, and to encourage them to become catalysts for positive change,” concluded Mkhize.

2019 DNC WORLD FINALS
GIRLS TOURNAMENT - COMPETING TEAMS
COUNTRY	REPRESENTING TEAM
Argentina	Club Atletico River Plate
England	Easington Colliery Girls Primary School
France	Olympique Lyonnais FC
Italy	SSC Napoli FC
Japan	Chiba Chuo FC
South Africa	Rebonwe Primary School
Spain	RCD Espanyol FC
Uruguay	Nautico FC

Eastern Cape Schools are preparing for the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup National Finals.

The Under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, is in full swing with five provincial finals compete. The tournament, which is run under the auspices of the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE), allows both the provincial winner and runner-up the opportunity of winning some of the massive prize money that is on offer at the national final stage, which will be taking place at the University of the Free State between 23rd and 27^th September.

The Eastern Cape provincial finals took place in Queenstown earlier this month with hosts, Maria Louw High School taking top honours and winning the R100 000 prize money.  They will be joined by second place finishers, Jojo Secondary School from Mount Ayliff in the Alfred Nzo Region at the national finals.

Maria Louw deputy principal and coach, Sandile Mata, is happy that his team has progressed to the national finals in their first outing in this prestigious tournament but cautions that it is not going to be an easy ride in the Free State.  “I joined the school in August last year from Lingelihele, where I was principal and coach, and took top provincial honours in this tournament in 2012 and 2014 where we met the likes of Clapham High School and Rosina Sedibane in the nationals.  Both are linked to PSL clubs and they have exceptional talent and experienced coaches and we will be up against them again this year.”  Mata does admit he holds Introductory and Level 1 certificates as well as the FIFA Grass Roots coaching certificate.

Mata has been following the progress of the provincial finals on Facebook and has noted there are many new schools that have qualified this year.  “Over the years we often see the same schools progressing up the ranks and it is good to see some new names there this year.  It makes the nationals more exciting and challenging.  This tournament is also about gaining experience, and watching the national finals is always an eye opener and the coaches from the rural areas pick up new ideas and approaches to the game.”

The main challenge Mata says he is facing is lack of motivation and discipline.  “It is a difficult age as the boys want to have fun, but it takes dedication and hard work to become a professional and some of the key players with immense talent skip training.  I have never had such a talented bunch of players before and all compete for top clubs in the area that play in local leagues.  We have the potential to go far – but they have to be committed.”

There are areas that need to be addressed before the nationals, admits Mata.  “My defence needs more work and we need more commitment from the strikers as we cannot rely on one person alone.  Those are the areas I am looking at improving within the next two weeks.  The Sundowns academy coaches will be at the nationals again and they have already identified two of my players, but it depends on how they play in the nationals as to whether they will be brought up to Joburg next year or not.”

The national finals promise to be spectacular with 18 teams competing for the ultimate prize of R1million, making the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, the competition with the biggest prize money in Africa at under-19 level.  The runners-up will take home R600 000, third place and fourth place finishers get R500 000 and R400 000 respectively.  On top of this the nine Provincial winners will each receive R100 000.  The winnings are not handed over in cash but spent on legacy projects identified by the winning schools.

PROVINCIAL FINAL WINNERS TO DATE:

PROVINCE/PF VENUE	DATE	WINNERS	REGION
Western Province Gaansbaai	03-Aug-19	WINNER:  John Ramsay High School	Bishop Lavis Cape Town
Western Province Gaansbaai	03-Aug-19	RUNNER-UP:  Beauford West Secondary School	Beaufort West Great Karoo Region
Eastern Cape Queenstown	10-Aug-19	WINNER:  Maria Louw Senior Secondary School (Queenstown)	Queenstown Enoch Mgijima Municipality
Eastern Cape Queenstown	10-Aug-19	RUNNER-UP:   Jojo Senior Secondary	Mount Ayliff Alfred Nzo Municipality
Northern Cape Upington	17-Aug	WINNER:  Okiep HS	Okiep Springbok Municipality
Northern Cape Upington	17-Aug	RUNNER-Up:  Blinkklip HS	Posmasburg ZF Mgcawu Municipality
Limpopo Polokwane	24-Aug-19	WINNER:  Tshikota High School	Tshikota (Louis Trichardt) Vhembe Municipality
Limpopo Polokwane	24-Aug-19	RUNNER-UP: Ditlalemeso Secondary School	Mankweng (Turfloop) Capricorn District
Gauteng Nigel	31-Aug-19	WINNER:  Rosina Sedibane	Laudium, Centurion Tshwane
Gauteng Nigel	31-Aug-19	RUNNER-UP:  Clapham HS	Queenswood, Pretoria Tshwane
KZN DURBAN	7-Sept-19	WINNER:  Dr JL Dube High School	KwaMashu Emlanjeni Durban
KZN DURBAN	7-Sept-19	RUNNER-UP:  Mount Currie Senior Secondary School	Kokstad Harry Gwala District

KFC Mini-Cricket season officially begins at the Northerns Provincial Festival

With over 1500 kids in attendance at the 2019/20 KFC Mini-Cricket Provincial Festival, the KFC Mini-Cricket kids from the capital city kicked off by bowling and batting their hearts out at the first KFC Mini-Cricket Provincial Festival at Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria.

The day’s festivities started off with KFC celebrating the 10-year milestone in partnership with Cricket South Africa and recognised 10 volunteer coaches for their tireless efforts and unwavering contribution to the programme for the last 10 years.

The programme brings youngsters from across our diverse country together and not only introduces them to the wonderful game of cricket but also allows them to play and have fun. The afternoon saw the excited kids being treated to a fun filled day, getting active with their teams and interacting with Zac and their favourite local stars in DJ Zinhle, Motlatsi Mafatshe and Cindy Poluta.

The attending kids from the various schools are a part of the 124 000 kids from 6495 schools that take part in over 40 000 KFC Mini-Cricket matches around the country over the cricket season.

The KFC Mini-Cricket programme remains one of the most impactful and significant development programmes in the South African sporting landscape and goes far beyond the game of cricket.

Kids from all walks of life and corners of the country will continue to have a platform that will help them grow, develop and shine in hopes of reaching their full potential and realise their dreams and possibly become the future stars of this country, like their Protea Heroes.

• The 10 volunteer coaches that were recognised at the KFC Mini-Cricket Northerns Provincial festival were: Madelein Viviers (LSEN), Patricia Matimbe (Mamelodi), Isaac Theledi (Atteridgeville), Ian Morton (Eersterust), Rebecca Tooka (Hammanskraal), Mokhadi Sekhu (Soshanguve), Sharlene Adonis (South East), Marietjie Tromp (Laudium), Bertus Theron (North West and Central) and Evelyn Kotsedi (Cullinan)

Professional coach comes in to assist Muzuvukile Primary in their preparations for the Danone Nations Cup world finals in Spain

The Danone Nations Cup boys world finals kick-off in Spain on 10 September and South Africa’s Muzuvukile Primary School from Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, will be one of only a handful of countries among the 20 competing that will be represented by a school as the rest are all club teams. So, Danone Southern Africa has brought in a top South African coach, Scelo Qwaba, to assist Muzuvukile in their preparations.

Qwaba is currently a coach at the University of Zululand and his under-17 team recently won a national tournament. He has a CAF A Coaching License and is also a coach instructor and therefore well equipped to assist the school.

Qwaba will go through to the school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to run their training sessions, with the possibility of increasing the number of days per week closer to the date of their departure for Barcelona.

“We know the competition will be tough in Barcelona,” said Muzuvukile coach, Xolani Mokoba.  “Our boys are usually the smallest at tournaments like these, so we are preparing the boys to play a carpet style of football as opposed to an aerial game. It’s a change to our style of football and the boys seem to have adapted well. However, extra training from a professional coach is exactly what we need. I do not have any coaching qualifications and would like to learn from Qwaba.”

The opportunity to play in Barcelona is a chance of a lifetime for many of the boys, believes Mokoba and he wants them to remember it as successful on the field as well as socially and culturally.  “The boys will always reflect back on this trip and I want them to be fond memories of fun, meeting people from different parts of the world and of great importance it must be a massive learning curve. Our manager has been on Facebook looking at what the other countries are doing and how they are preparing. My job is to get them as ready physically and mentally as possible to tackle whatever comes our way in each game.”

Muzuvukile has had great support from the local community. “The Richards Bay football club visited us and has donated balls and bibs to help us prepare,” Mokoba said. “We have also had great support from the Mseleni clinic. The nurses visited the boys, conducting medical examinations and educating them about proper nutrition leading up to our departure. They will be back every two weeks to monitor the boys' health and fitness. All this helps to ensure that we have done the best training we can.”

The first training session with Qwaba will be on Tuesday 27^th August. “Facing club teams will be tough, but not impossible,” said Masi Mkhize, Communications Manager, Danone Southern Africa. “So, Danone Southern Africa decided to give them a helping hand to get the boys ready.  The team representing Spain at the 2019 world finals will be FC Barcelona’s under-12s, for example. There’s no doubt that the kids will learn a lot from playing against such opposition, but our schools going to Spain are coached by teachers with no soccer qualifications and we would like to help them. We have brought in expert assistance for all the teams, Muzuvukile and Nomlinganiselo (2018 winners from Western Cape) as well as our girls team, Rebonwe (Gauteng).”

The teams leave for Barcelona on Monday, 7^th October and will have a couple of days to acclimatise prior to the commencement of the tournament on 10^th October.

“The 2018 and 2019 world finals will be held as a double header.  Barcelona is symbolic as it was in this city in 1919 that Isaac Carasso created the first Danone yogurt with the aim of improving one’s health,” said Mkhize.  “We are combining Danone’s centenary and the 20^th edition of the world final in a bumper edition this year.  It also coincides with our new brand positioning and purpose, One Planet One Health, which reflects our belief that the health of humankind and that of the planet are interlinked and both need to be protected and nurtured.

“Through the Danone Nations Cup, we are contributing to bringing this vision to life by promoting the importance of exercise. Further, we are encouraging our young athletes to ‘Play Football, Change the Game’, which is a rallying message to unite children, irrespective of their backgrounds and cultures, and to encourage them to become catalysts for positive change,” concluded Mkhize.