2012 DANONE NATIONS CUP WORLD FINALS ENDS WITH SOUTH KOREA AS CHAMPIONS

South Korea is the winner of the Danone Nations Cup 2012. They won against Japan. The match was played at the National Stadium in Warsaw with almost 41 000 spectators during one day, including the tournament’s Ambassador - international football star Zinédine Zidane.

Young players from 40 countries around the world played at the National Stadium in Warsaw. The event was an excellent way to promote football among the youngest population in Poland and abroad. Almost 41 000 spectators watched this all day event. From the very first minutes of the final game spectators could watch great actions in the game of equal rivals. The outcome of the final was sealed by penalty goals which set the result of the match at 2:1. “We are more than happy to be here. It was a great adventure and experience for us. We will remember this for the rest of our life” - said Yuseok from the best team of Danone Nations Cup 2012 World Final.

After the game Franck Riboud awarded trophy to the winners and gave special awards for: best goalkeeper from Italy, best attacker from France and best Tournament player from Japan. The special Fair Play prize was awarded to the Ireland team. The ranking is based on all the observations and notations made by the 4th referees throughout the tournament. Their role was to fill in the evaluation grids taking into account sportsmanship and their general behavior (team spirit, respect of others…).

Zinédine Zidane complimented not only teams play, but also the spirit of the event: “The Poland and organization look very well. I like the Stadium which looks very professional. Also the atmosphere of the event is very friendly. Yesterday I had nice meeting with kid’s and today’s final was a good continuation of this positive emotional spirit” – said Zidane. Gheorghe Hagi and Tsuyoshi KitazawaI, local Ambassadors in Romania and Japan, were also attending to encourage the kids and kick off the ball of their final matches.

The Danone Nations Cup in Poland enjoyed a large audience. There were many activities for families both in the National Stadium and in the Family Fun Zone in front of it. The profit of the day was donated to the program “Share Your Meal” dedicated to children.

The Danone Nations Cup is designed for children aged 10-12 (U-12). Each year, the tournament engages over 2.5 million young players on 5 continents. Forty winning teams meet at the World Final to fulfill their dreams of playing against peers in a professional stadium, always respecting Fair Play rules.

The Danone Nations Cup provides a unique opportunity to play in iconic football stadiums around the world.

Where will the 2013 final take place then? During the press conference Franck Riboud announced that nexts’ year edition will be organized in London!

 

STEENBERG HIGH CROWNED WESTERN CAPE CHAMPIONS AND WINS R100K

It was a repeat of the 2010 Western Cape Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup provincial final – but this time Steenberg High School triumphed over Cloetesville Secondary  School and won the R100 000 western cape provincial  prize money. 

Now both teams are through to the National Finals which take place in Bloemfontein in the Free State from 2 – 6 October.

Western Cape was the last province to host their finals, which took place at the Rustdene Stadium in Beaufort West over the weekend.  Steenberg beat Cloetesville 3 - 1 on penalties - the score was 0 all after regulation time.

“If we had converted our chances it would have been better,” said Clive Biegnwaar, Steenberg High’s coach.  “Winning a game on penalties is never ideal, especially in a final.”

But Biegnwaar is happy with the way his charges played.  “Everything we spoke about in the changing room was executed on the field.  The boys were determined and hungry to win.  I told them not to try and do anything fancy but apply everything that we have done at training and remain calm and not let any pressure get to them.”

Biegnwaar, who is also an accountancy teacher and who has been at the school for 26 years said that the loss to Cloetesville in the 2010 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup taught him a valuable lesson.  Hence, he went back to the drawing board, corrected previous mistakes and came back this year with a positive attitude combined with experience.  Although the schools board will decide where the winning funds will be spent, he hopes it will be on floodlights for the school’s sports fields.  “Soccer keeps the kids off the streets and on the right track so I would like to see the school upgrading the soccer field and also introducing more sports.”

Steenberg is 50 years old with over 1 200 pupils.  Classes have up to 56 pupils, but despite this the matric pass rate for 2011 was 91 percent.  Biegnwaar thanked Sanlam, the Motsepe Foundation and Sundowns for the football initiative as he believes that tournaments such as the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup does wonders in building players confidence.  “It  gives them something to strive for and they can learn from other schools to help them become better players.”

Cloetesville coach, Rowen Bergstedt, accepted defeat and admitted Steenberg had done their homework as they managed to successfully close them down and frustrate his players.  “I knew Steenberg would go into the match seeking revenge and I warned my players about being complacent as what happened two years ago does not guarantee us another win.”

Nevertheless, Cloetesville still stands the chance of winning the R1 million big prize as both teams are through to the National Finals.  “There is no reason why we cannot win the National Finals.  It will be tough out there but my boys are mentally and physically strong and I will work on synergy as this is key to our success. Individuals do not win games, teams do!”

 

RESULTS

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS:

Robinvale Secondary School

Steenberg Secondary School
Qhayiya Secondary School
Themabalethu Secondary School
Cloetesville Secondary School
Bastiaanse Secondary School

 

Group A

Robinvale Secondary School

Steenberg Secondary School
Qhayiya Secondary School

Robinvale Secondary School 0 vs  Steenberg Secondary School 2

Goals: Leeroy Sopio and Marlin Sheldon

Steenberg Secondary School 1  vs Qhayiya Secondary School 0
Goals: Imeraal Ling

Robinvale Secondary School 1 vs Qhayiya Secondary School 1
Goals: Qhayiya – Tevern Syce; Robinvale – Granold Scott

 

Group B

Themabalethu Secondary School

Cloetesville Secondary School
Bastiaanse Secondary School

 

Themabalethu 0 vs Bastiaanse Secondary School 0

Cloetesville Secondary School 2 vs Thembalethu Secondary School 1
Goals: Cloetesville- Andile Yapi and Ruwayne Springbok; Thembalethu- Siyabulela Matshani

Bastiaanse Secondary School 1 vs Cloetesville Secondary School 1

Goals: Cloetesville- Antonio Lewis; Bastiaanse - Curtley Blom

 

3^rd and 4^th Play offs
Qhayiya 0 vs Bastiaanse 0
Qhayiya won 4 – 3 on penalties

 

FINAL:
Steenberg 0  vs Cloetesville 0
Steenberg won 3 – 1 on penalties


About the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup:

The Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is an initiative co-funded by Sanlam, the Ubuntu-Botho Community Development Trust and the Motsepe Family Foundation. It the biggest high school soccer tournament in South Africa and is open to all high schools including rural, public, private and independent schools. The National winning school will walk away with R1 million with R600 000, R500 000 and R400 000, for the second, third and fourth placed schools respectively. Each Provincial winners gets an additional R100 000. Prize money is used to fund legacy projects identified by the school.

 

PARTICIA MATIMBE IS THE KFC MINI-CRICKET COACH OF THE MONTH FOR JULY

Patricia Matimbe of the Mamelodi region is the KFC Mini-Cricket Coach of the Month for July.

Patricia is an administrative assistant and is a KFC Mini-Cricket coach and coordinator at Mogale Primary School. She holds a level 1 coaching qualification and has been involved in the programme since 1990.

She was recruited into the programme by Emily Vuma, the Mamelodi Area Coordinator and would recommend her as administrator of the month because of the hard work that Emily has put in over the last 25 years.

Patricia’s involvement in cricket began when she started to wonder where the South African players she was watching on TV came from.

“My favorite player was Jaques Kallis. I liked the way he both bowls and bats,” she says. “When I became more involved and I began to understand that the Protea players also belong to teams like the Nashua Titans, Cape Cobra, Lions, etc. I started to engage myself with Nashua Titans because it was our home team.

“It was then that I realised that I love the game. KFC Mini-Cricket was introduced to our school, and with the help of the principal, we started the programme, and it was successful. It's then that we met Mrs Emily Vuma, the coordinator of Mamelodi Area, and I became more involved and committed.”

“In 2005 our under-11 and under-13 teams beat all the schools in our province and I was invited to the National Seminar because of the job I had done. The seminar was in Bethlehem in the Free State and there I met many dedicated teachers from different provinces, people that I share the same passion with, we shared views, ideas and had lots of fun.”

Patricia also became involved in girls cricket at Mamelodi Cricket Club as a team manager, and was appointed as the Northerns under-16 girls team manager in 2008. Dane Van Niekerk who is currently playing for the SA Women’s team was in her team.

Three of the cricketers that she has coached have received bursaries to further their studies at Cornwall Hill College through Northerns Cricket Union.

“Most of our learners are from disadvantaged areas, and their parents are very supportive. I try to involve them in assisting me so that they can understand what the game of cricket is all about,” Patricia says.

The school provides transport so that the pupils can attend Titans and National team matches to broaden their cricket knowledge and become involved in the cricket culture.

“I would like to thank our principal, Mr Mathabathe, the educators at the school and the parents for letting me use their children to participate in cricket,” Patricia says. “My aim is to involve more parents in the development areas and to help the learners to become more efficient and effective, through the game of cricket.”

The purpose of KFC Mini-Cricket is to get as many children as possible onto the cricket field to live active and balanced lifestyles.  There is nothing more exciting than a game of cricket with friends and the thrill of bowling someone out, hitting a six and taking that vital catch while having fun.

During the 2011/12 season the programme grew by 20 percent and now over 100 000 kids are getting active by getting into KFC Mini-Cricket.  Credit must go to the over 7 000 volunteer coaches in the programme who generously give their time and skills to ensure that the children from over 4 500 schools that participate can be coached 365-days a year. 

For more information or to register your school for KFC Mini-Cricket log on to www.kfc.co.za/minicricket or contact CSA at (011) 880 2810.

DREAM FINALLY COMES TRUE FOR 14 UNDER 12 FOOTBALLERS AS THEY JET OFF TO POLAND

Fourteen Under 12 footballers from Sinamuva Public Primary School from Imbali township, near Pietermaritzburg, will be boarding an airplane bound for Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday night with the experience of a lifetime lying ahead of them.  They will be representing South Africa, together with 39 other countries in the Danone Nations Cup World Finals from 7 – 9 September.

 

But the football will only be part of the experience. For all of the boys from Sinamuva it will be the first time they will be leaving the country and the first time they will be flying. They are going to be exposed to educational and life skill learning opportunities aplenty and that is in keeping with the objectives of the sponsors, Danone, who believe the Danone Nations Cup is not just about football, it is also a unique life experience. Through the four day event, the kids will share and meet each others thanks to many activities organised in parallel to the tournament

 

Sinamuva’s road to Warsaw began back in March when they played in the preliminary rounds of the competition. They became KwaZulu-Natal champions in April and went on to beat Gauteng’s Sonqoba Primary in June to take the national title.

 

Sinamuva have big boots to fill. South Africa remain the only nation to have taken the title at the World Finals three times – in 2003, 2007 and 2009.

 

The initial rounds of the competition will be played at the Osir Bemowo complex in North Warsaw, with the games on the final day taking place at the fabulous National Stadium, specially built for the recent Euro 2012 tournament and the venue for the opening ceremony and six matches in that competition.

 

The draw for the pool stages has been announced and South Africa is grouped with the teams from Spain, Turkey, Switzerland and Ivory Coast. It’s the Ivorians’ first appearance in the World Finals and it’s going to be great to extend a great African rivalry between the nations to this level.

 

Spain won the tournament back in 2004 and are likely to be Sinamuva’s sternest opposition in the opening rounds. Both Turkey and Switzerland have made it through to the final of the World competition twice in the past. Turkey were runners-up in 2000 and 2005, while Switzerland came second in 2006 and 2009.