Limpopo hosts their Danone Nations Cup Provincial Finals

The Danone Nations Cup Limpopo provincial finals kicks-off on Saturday, 18 April at Hoerskool Noordeland in Polokwane.

There will be five schools participating, one being Mmamakwa Full Service School  representing Bela-Bela, and coach Thabo Mapharumela is hoping that 2015 will be their lucky year and they will, for the first time, get through to the national finals.

“We have been playing in the tournament since 2001 and this is the first time we have made it to the provincials.  My team has really made me proud.  I have been working towards this for so many years and we have finally made it,” said Mapharumela, who has been the coach they started participating.  He has no formal soccer qualification and uses experience as a form of reference.

“There are two important teachings I instill into the players and those are ball possession and accurate shooting,” said Mapharumela. 

The road to the provincial finals was not plain sailing admits Mapharumela and what got them through was the team’s consistency.  “We played two matches at circuit level beating Spar Park Primary 3 – 0 and Albert Luthuli Primary 4 – 1 and we went on to win all our games at regional level to get to the Provincials.”

The build up to Saturday’s games has been focused on working on defense.  “I am very happy with the strikers and midfielders, but noticed that we needed to tighten up on defense,” said the coach.

The key player is the captain and midfielder, Iketleg Mfisha.  “He has great leadership skills and respects his team member as well as the coaching staff.  He will be assisted in the midfield by the youngster player in the team, Ati Tshabalala. Our key striker is Sello Pholoba.  He has scored 6 goals for us to date. “

Teams competing on Saturday :

Benny’s Sports Academy-Vhembe District

Mahupje Primary School-Mopani District

Mmamakwa Full Service School-Waterberg

Megoring Primary School-Capricorn District

Rammupundu Primary School-Sekhukhune District

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