Roodepan Primary from Kimberley wins Danone Nations Cup Northern Cape provincial final

The Northern Cape Provincial Final of the under-12 Danone Nations Cup was held at the Keimoes Stadium on 22^nd March and was won by Kimberley’s Roodepan Primary School.  After years of trying, the school not only reached the provincial finals for the first time, but went on to win and the team has not stopped celebrating since.  According to team manager, Enricho Chapman, this goal was set years back and it has finally been achieved.

“The Danone Nations Cup is about ‘believing in your dreams’ and playing in the national finals has been a dream of ours for a while now,” said Chapman.  “The games were pretty tough and intense; we won because we worked very hard in training and I believe that the school deserved to win, this year is our year.”

Chapman identified Brecher Primary School as their toughest competition in the finals. “We played against them twice.  In the first game they beat us 1-0. Our defence was strong in the second game and we didn’t give them a chance to create goals.”

He is upbeat about their chances in the national finals.  “Without a doubt, we have a chance of winning the national title after the performance this past weekend,” Chapman said.  “We have a special crop of boys that have that fighting spirit.  Winning the provincial title is a morale booster and the team is geared up for the nationals.” He admits that having no experience of playing in the national finals is a disadvantage, but the boys will definitely not go down without a fight, he said.

Chapman identifies defender, Toufiq Olyn, as a key player in the team. Toufiq said that meeting other schools and playing against them was fun. “I really enjoyed playing against Ferdinand Brecher because they beat us first and we beat them in our final match. The ultimate was when we won the title.  Winning the provincial title showed we can achieve anything we want to no matter the circumstances.”

The next step for this young team is to travel to Gauteng to compete in the national finals on the 23^rd  June. “We have never travelled outside of the Northern Cape and we are going to work hard to win the trip to Brazil,” said Toufiq. He believes that Brazil is the best country when it comes to soccer. “I saw their national team play against our national team and I have to admit that they are the best. I admire their style and technique and I wish that I could go abroad and learn how to play like them.”

RESULTS

Roodepan 1 Willie Theron 0

Ferdinand Brecher 2 Willie Theron 1

Willie Theron 2 Moholeng 1

Willie Theron 1 Die Kuil 0

Ferdinand Brecher 1 Roodepan 0

Roodepan 1 Moholeng 0

Roodepan 2 Die Kuil 0

Ferdinand Brecher 1 Moholeng 0

Ferdinand Brecher 1 Die Kuil 1 (Ferdinand Brecher won on penalties)

Moholeng 2 Die Kuil 0.

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

Registrations for the 2014 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup in the Eastern Cape going well

Emmanuel Makiti, team manager and coach of Executive Academy School in the Eastern Cape believes in early preparation. So, his school’s entry for the 2014 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup competition is in, and they are already hard at work ahead of the opening matches in the tournament.

Executive Academy won R100 000 as the 2013 Eastern Cape provincial champions, and they finished 11^th at the national finals last year.  The plan is to win the provincial finals again this year finish higher on the log at the national finals.

Preparations started last year for Makiti, whose first task was to get a SAFA level 1 coaching qualification and he hopes the skills he acquired will filter down and assist the players. “After last year’s national finals I realised I needed a qualification if the school was to progress in this tournament, so I asked the school principal, who assisted me financially to do the course.”  The key learnings from the course, Makiti said, are how to identify a player and select a team; how to strategise when your team is losing a game and the importance of motivating your team.

Makiti’s identification process started a week after school started in January with 40 hopefuls attending trials at the school.  He selected the top 25 players who were put through a 2-week rigorous training session. They were then put into game situations and from there a squad of 17 players was chosen. “This method works for me as it gives me enough time to get to know  players, their strengths and their weaknesses and gives them time to improve,” Makiti said.

There are six players from the 2013 team back again and, according to Makiti, they are hungry to do better this year. “I believe the current team is  better than last year’s,” Makiti said. “Last year I didn’t have enough strikers, whereas this year I do – as well as good midfielders and defenders.  The pressure is also on me to coach them correctly and teach them the basics, but I am better prepared than last year,” said Makiti.

At the moment, the team is playing friendly games every weekend against schools from their surrounding area, and in this way they are getting used to playing as a team and learning to improve their communications on the field.  “I have also entered the team into a local Mbombela promotion league,” Makiti said. “This helps the team to improve their skills and they also get to see how other teams play in the league which is more challenging than playing against a school.”

Makiti believes that Sanlam and the Motsepe Foundation are doing a fantastic job in soccer development as these are the future Bafana Bafana players. “I make a point of teaching the boys about what Sanlam does as it is important to give back to our sponsors. I also believe that Sanlam is an ideal sponsor at this level as every under-19 youngsters needs to understand financial literacy.”

TO REGISTER FOR THE 2014 SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP CONTACT:  themba.tshabalala@safa.net

About the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup:

·           The tournament is run under the auspices of the South Africa Football Association (SASFA)

   Named after prominent businessman Patrice Motsepe’s late mother, the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup offers the biggest prize money at school level in Africa (R3.4 million in total). 

·           The sponsors are:  Sanlam, the Motsepe Foundation and the Sanlam Ubuntu-Botho Community Development Trust.

·           The primary objective of the tournament is to revive the culture of school football amongst students between the age of 16 and 19 years old.

·           The tournament also gives players the opportunity to showcase their skills to soccer scouts with the talented players being recruited into development structures to be nurtured and shaped into professional players.

Nikon partners with Danone and Mille in the Danone Nations Cup South Africa

Danone Southern Africa is proud to announce that Nikon in South Africa, a world leader in photo imaging technology, will be supporting the Danone Nations Cup, the largest youth football tournament for players between the ages of 10 and 12 in the world.  The tournament has been organised by Danone since 2000 and involves 2.5 million youngsters each year from all corners of the world. 

Run under the auspices of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA), the South Africa leg of the Danone Nations Cup includes over 2 500 schools from all corners of South Africa and Nikon will support the photography, or ‘taking stories’, around games in from the Provincial finals and the National Finals happening at Reiger Park, Boksburg on the 28 June. 

Over and above taking photographs at games, Danone and Nikon will be campaigning to find a Kids Reporter who will accompany the South African team to Brazil for the World Finals later in the year.  This youngster, who will be between the age of 10 and 12, will go armed with a Nikon Coolpix L820 to take pictures for publication. 

Marli van Schalkwyk, Head of Marketing for Nikon in South Africa said:  “Globally Nikon supports all sports as a picture tells a thousand words.  Further we have been looking for a partner involved in youth football and the Danone Nations Cup was an ideal choice.  Both companies share similar values and similar ways of working and the partnership is a win-win situation.  We will be sending a Nikon photographer to all nine provincial finals to capture the moments that these youngsters will want to cherish forever and we will be supplying pictures for the media.  We will then play a much bigger role in the National Finals.” 

Danone and Nikon will be running media competitions where fans can win one of 20 cameras on offer.  The public is encouraged to watch the press and facebook for details.”

Danone are delighted with the new partnership:  “The Danone Nations Cup is 14 years old this year and it has gained credibility and legitimacy in the international world of football and has FIFA’s stamp of approval and to have Nikon in South Africa on board puts the tournament on a different level,” said Chantel Ehlers, Sponsorship Manager of Danone South Africa.

Northern Cape Host the first 2014 Danone Nations Cup Provincial Final

The Northern Cape will host the first 2014 Danone Nations Cup provincial final at the Keimoes Stadium, on Saturday, 22 March from 9am, with the final game at 2pm.  The winner will represent the province at the national finals in Johannesburg in June.  The ultimate champion will go on to compete in the World Finals in Brazil later in the year.

There will be 5 schools competing, all have already played gruelling qualifiers in their respective regions and are therefore winners already.  The schools are:  Roodepan Primary School (representing Frances Baard region), Moholeng Primary School (representing John Taolo Gaetsewe region) , Willie Theron Primary School (representing Pixley Ka Seme region), Die Kuil Primary School (representing ZF Mgcawu region and Ferdinand Brecher Primary from Namaqualand.

Roodepan Primary School will be competing in a provincial final for the first time and are proud of their achievements to date.  “Last year we competed for the first time but didn’t make it past the cluster level so used the experience as a learning curve,” said team manager and coach, Enricho Chapman.  “We started preparing for this year’s tournament back in October.  The key was selecting the best team and getting them to work as a team as youngsters of this age are inclined to chase the ball as opposed to playing strategically.  That seems to have paid off as we have won every game to date.   Now we are preparing the boys psychologically as they need to be able to play well under pressure.”

Chapman says that the Danone Nations Cup is the highlight of their sports calendar and every player wants to be part of the team.  “The players are going through an intense training programme at the moment.  In the morning before school the boys warm up and we focus on fitness and in the afternoons we focus on ball control.  I believe we are ready for Saturday.”

Chapman is hoping his player that scored 10 goals in the tournament, Given Beyers, will be in action on Saturday.   “Given is a born sportsman and has also been selected for the team to represent the Northern Cape in the National Athletics Championships.”

Assisting Chapman on Saturday will be Kernel Clint, who has a SAFA Level 3 qualification.  “Kernel is coaching a National First Division team and is excellent with kids.  He is good at instilling self belief and positive thinking into the youngsters and I believe he is crucial if we want to win through to the next stage of the competition.”

Pictures will be available to media after the tournament, courtesy of Nikon.  For further information contact info@intunecom.co.za

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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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