Daniye Higher Primary School of
Bushbuckridge are the under-12 Danone Nations Mpumalanga provincial champions
and will be heading for Boksburg to compete in the national finals on the 27th
of June. If the school wins there they will represent South Africa in the
world finals for the second time.
In 2013 Daniye represented South
Africa at the Danone Nations Cup world finals in London which was a life
changing experience for the youngsters who travelled. According to key
player, Hlulani Zulu, who scored 2 goals at the provincial finals, he has been
in contact with some of the players from the 2013 winning team and received
invaluable support and guidance from him.
There are, of course, none of the
2013 players still at the school and, according to the team coach, Gideon
Theko, they are taking it step by step this year.
“As previous national champions,
we definitely had a target on our backs at the Mpumalanga playoffs,” Theko
said, “but we had worked hard in preparing for them, and the boys did well to
win the final after losing our first game.”
That first game loss was to
Maminza Primary, whom they met in the final match again and managed to beat
them 3-0 on penalties.
Theko puts that early setback
down to fatigue – they had to leave home at 2am to travel to Middelburg for the
finals and hadn’t slept well the night before.
“That’s something we need to get
right for the nationals,” he said. “We need to work on our stamina to last the
whole day, and to make better travel arrangements when we go to Gauteng.”
The experience of playing in the
provincial finals was great, the coach said. “I was impressed with the
organisation and the boys had a great time playing and interacting with the
players from other schools, I think the other Mpumalanga schools that we beat
will be rooting for us in the Nationals finals.”
The big challenge at the
nationals is going to come from the Gauteng representatives, Theko thinks. “We
don’t know who they will be yet, but they set the bar high there and are
strong. But we will come in with a positive attitude,” he said.
The Mpumalanga provincial finals
were played at the Themba Senamela Stadium in Middleburg on 9th May.
The results were:
Daniye 0 Maminza 0 (Mamzina won
on penalties)
Dumelani 0 Nqobile 1
Dumelani 0 Daniye 1
Maminza 1 Nqobile 0
Nqobile 0 Daniye 1
Maminza 0 Dumelani 0 (Mamzina won
on penalties)
FINAL
Daniye 3 Maminza 0
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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