Nomandi JSS get kids off to a winning start in Kids vs Proteas opener

Nomandi Junior Secondary School got the KFC mini-cricket kids off to a winnings start when they beat the Proteas by 46 runs in the season’s first KFC mini-cricket Kids vs Proteas tour match at the Khaya Majola Oval in Mthatha on Thursday.

The kids batted first, posting a tournament record 87 runs in their allotted eight overs, in a match that was watched by more than 1,200 mini-cricket players who played in the Kei Provincial festival earlier in the day. The Proteas in attendance were Wayne Parnell, Marchant de Lange, David Wiese, Mignon du Preez, Marcia Letsoalo, Ayabonga Khaka and Zintle Mali.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) Manager: Mass Participation, David Mokopanele was utterly impressed by the turn out for the festival as well as the talent that was on display during the Kids’ match.

“This has to be the best match we have ever watched between the Proteas and any kids’ team and we’re going into the tournament’s third season now,” he said. “Our national team were treated to a truly competitive match with lots of skills and talent on show. We are happy to see that level of attention to detail in children at under-10 stage and we were glad to see them win in the end after putting on such a fine performance.

“The festival itself was also an absolute pleasure to be a part of. Young children who take their game so seriously bode well for the future of the game. To see more than 1 000 enthusiastic and excited cricketers on one field made for an enjoyable day all-round,” Mokopanele concluded.

The Nomandi team were given a private coaching session with former Proteas fast bowler, Mfuneko Ngam in preparation for this match. After seeing them, he felt that they did not need any extra coaching as the team exceeded all his expectations.

“I got to the school expecting to do a bit of coaching, but I was massively impressed by the level of skill displayed by this team,” he commented. “The fielding was sharp and on point, the bowling was second to none for that age group and the batting was exactly as it should be. I told them myself that the Proteas would have their hands full and boy did they.”

Nomandi won the match against the Proteas after they entered the KFC mini-cricket Kids vs Proteas online and SMS competition. Kids can enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535#).

ENDS

About the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids v Proteas Tour

For the third year KFC will run a national competition where KFC Mini-Cricket kids will stand the chance to play against the Proteas in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour

The winners will be rewarded with a prize handover, a training session and a game against the Proteas, all assisted by one of the three KFC Mini_Cricket coaches, Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Mfuneko Ngam.

The runners-up will be given the opportunity to participate as ball boys and girls at a televised Ram Slam T20 Challenge match in their area

Three third place winners will be drawn, each of whom will be awarded with 25 KFC Mini-Cricket sets for their school.

About KFC Mini-Cricket

KFC Mini-Cricket provides a platform for kids in South Africa to have fun and get active

KFC Mini-Cricket is the largest grassroots development sports programme in South Africa and is also an essential building block for learning cricketing basics and entrenching a love for the game. 

There are currently over 110 000 kids from over 4 900 schools active in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme who are coached by over 8000 volunteers

KFC has sponsored KFC Mini-Cricket since 2010 and in the 2012/13 cricket season KFC became the title sponsor of the KFC T20 Internationals and an associate sponsor of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.

KFC has recently renewed its Mini-Cricket sponsorship for a further 10 years, taking the partnership through to 2025

Log on to www.kfcminicricket.co.za or contact CSA at (011) 880 2810 for more info on KFC Mini-Cricket

Nomandi Junior Secondary School’s KFC Mini-Cricket Kids to Challenge the Proteas

Nomandi Junior Secondary School’s KFC Mini-Cricket Kids to Challenge the Proteas

KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs. Proteas Tour begins

20 October 2015. The biggest tour of the summer is upon us and KFC is proud to announce Nomandi Junior Secondary School from Mthatha as the Proteas’ first opponents in the action packed 2015/16 KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs. Proteas Tour. 

Nomandi will be hosting and taking on the Proteas after being drawn as the first winners of the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs. Proteas Tour competition.

Mike Middleton, Chief Marketing Officer for KFC South Africa comments, “At KFC we take pride in the fact that we are able to get kids active and bring them closer to their cricketing heroes through KFC Mini-Cricket.  We extend our congratulations to Nomandi Junior Secondary School, it will be a once in a lifetime experience for the kids and I am confident they will do KFC proud in their match against the Proteas.”

Eastern Cape cricketing legend and KFC Mini-Cricket coach, Mfuneko Ngam, who will be helping Nomandi Junior Secondary School prepare for their match-up against the Proteas, payed the school a surprise visit to announce the fixture and to treat them to an impromptu training session.

Ngam commented, “I am honoured to take on the role of KFC Mini-Cricket coach to Nomandi Junior Secondary School.  Having had a first look at my team at today’s training session it is clear that they have some immense talent in their ranks and I am sure that we will be giving the Proteas a good run come the 29^th October.”

The match-up at Nomandi Junior Secondary School will be the first of four games making up the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs. Proteas Tour with further matches taking place in Durban; Johannesburg and Cape Town.  In addition to Ngam, KFC have also signed-up legendary cricketers Graeme Smith and Neil Mckenzie who will also serve as KFC Mini-Cricket coaches during the Tour.

The fixture between Nomandi Junior Secondary School and the Proteas will take place on the 29^th October 2015 and Proteas star batsman JP Duminy believes both teams will be eager to gain an early lead in the series.

“It’s going to be a long tour but the Proteas are up for the challenge.  We won’t be underestimating the KFC Mini-Cricket kids from Nomandi Junior Secondary School but we are confident of taking an early series lead come game 1 in the Eastern Cape.”

The Proteas play Nomandi Junior Secondary School at Khaya Majola Oval, Mthatha on 29^th October 2015 at 12:00. The event is open to the public.  Come down and support the Eastern Cape’s KFC Mini-Cricket kids and get closer to your heroes, the Proteas. 

Three spaces are still up for grabs for your primary school’s or cricket club’s KFC Mini-Cricket team to host and take on the Proteas.  Dial *120*7535# or visit www.kfcminicricket.co.za now to enter.

{ENDS}

Media Contact

Shawn Belluigi

Tel: 083 675 4338

Email: shawn@intunecom.co.za

About the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids v Proteas Tour

For the third year KFC will run a national competition where KFC Mini-Cricket kids will stand the chance to play against the Proteas in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour

Kids can enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535#)

The winners will be rewarded with a prize handover, a training session and a game against the Proteas, all assisted by one of the three KFC Mini_Cricket coaches, Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Mfuneko Ngam.

The runners-up will be given the opportunity to participate as ball boys and girls at a televised Ram Slam T20 Challenge match in their area

Three third place winners will be drawn, each of whom will be awarded with 25 KFC Mini-Cricket sets for their school.

About KFC Mini-Cricket

KFC Mini-Cricket provides a platform for kids in South Africa to have fun and get active

KFC Mini-Cricket is the largest grassroots development sports programme in South Africa and is also an essential building block for learning cricketing basics and entrenching a love for the game. 

There are currently over 110 000 kids from over 4 900 schools active in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme who are coached by over 8000 volunteers

KFC has sponsored KFC Mini-Cricket since 2010 and in the 2012/13 cricket season KFC became the title sponsor of the KFC T20 Internationals and an associate sponsor of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.

KFC has recently renewed its Mini-Cricket sponsorship for a further 10 years, taking the partnership through to 2025

Log on to www.kfcminicricket.co.za or contact CSA at (011) 880 2810 for more info on KFC Mini-Cricket

Morocco wins the World Final of the Danone Nations Cup at home, under the eyes of Zinédine Zidane

Morocco wins the World Final of the Danone Nations Cup at home, under the eyes of Zinédine Zidane

More than 22 000 people packed the Grand Marrakech Stadium to support the world’s biggest international football tournament for 10-12 year old

Morocco is the winner of the 2015 Danone Nations Cup World Final. They beat Mexico 3 – 1 in front of a home crowd of 22 000 to clinch the trophy.

Over 400 kids from 32 countries converged on Marrakech to participate in the world finals which were played over three days – 24^th to 26^th October.  There were a number of individual awards that were also handed out.  Best Player of the tournament went to Rayan n°11 from France, the Fair Play award went to the country of China, Best Scorer went to Taiyo n°10 from Japan with 10 goals and Best Goalkeeper to another Japanese Kai n°1. France beat the Netherlands to clinch third place.

Zinédine Zidane, Danone Nations Cup ambassador, attended the final day of play and handed out the awards and said after the final match: “A massive congratulations to Morocco for winning this year’s Danone Nations Cup World Final at home. Teams all showed tremendous skill and professionalism on the pitch and I’m very proud to be a part of this fantastic tournament which is aimed at helping children develop their passion for football and develop respect for themselves and others. I wish everyone the best of luck in the future and to keep believing in your dreams.”

South Africa came to the tournament with the shortest players, but that did not phase the youngsters when they took on a much taller and stronger Netherlands – Drawing 0 – 0 – and then going on to beat Belgium 1 – 0, but lost 2 – 0  to Saudi Arabia which placed them second on the log which put them through to the top 16.  However, the knockout phase of the tournament was not going to go in the young charges way.  They were beaten by  Germany, Bulgaria, USA and Argentina to end the log in 16^th position.

Final log:

1 Morocco	12 Brazil	23 Senegal
2 Mexico	13 USA	24 Algeria
3 France	14 Indonesia	25 Saudi Arabia
4 Netherlands	15 Argentina	26 Poland
5 Spain	16 South Africa	27 Hungary
6 Canada	17 Tunisia	28 UAE
7 Germany	18 Belgium	29 Switzerland
8 Australia	19 England	30 Russia
9 Japan	20 China	31 Italy
10 Bulgaria	21 South Korea	32 Egypt
11 Portugal	22 Romania

Pictures & TV footages & Match hightlight free of charge on

http://pressarea.danonenationscup.com/

Young under 12 soccer team leaves for Morocco to represent SA in the Danone Nations Cup World Finals

It will be a chance of a lifetime for 12 under-12 kids from Bree Primary School, who leave for Marrakesh, Morocco today to compete in the biggest football tournament for kids between 10 and 12 in the world, Danone Nations Cup World Finals.

This is a culmination of a journey that started in January this year when over 2 000 Schools registered to compete in the Danone Nations Cup, managed by the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA).

Danone Southern Africa gave the boys a send-off function yesterday that was attended by the Gauteng MEC for Education, Banyaza Lesufi, the Gauteng Department of Education Director – School Sports, Cedric Ranchor as well as the President of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) Mandla ‘Shoes’ Mazibuko and CEO, Steve Pila.

For Bree Primary School, who have already won the national finals twice before – going on to win the World Final in 2009, this is a dream come true.  “After winning the world title we have not managed to go beyond the provincial finals for the past 5 years,” said Bree Primary principal, Dave Kalicharan.  “This year my coach, Bafana Dlamini, and I sat down and decided we were going to put together a team that would bring us back to the glory days and that is what we did.  We went on a recruitment drive to source a couple of extra players to boost our team and they joined the school this year.  We have not put them under pressure, but given then the drive to believe in themselves and encouraged them to dream big.”

There are 32 countries competing in the tournament and South Africa has been drawn in a pool with Belgium, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.  The pool games will take place on Friday, 23 October. This will be followed by a knockout phase to determine the pool results and who will compete in the finals. The last day, Sunday, 25 October, the 32 teams will play their final match in the main Marrakesh stadium. 

When asked what he wanted to take out from this experience, captain, Ntando Simayile said:  “I will get to travel by plane for the first time, see a desert for the first time, get to understand nutrition better and I am really looking forward to staying in a fine hotel.  I also want to learn as much as I can about football and watch how other countries play.  I have seen some videos of previous Danone Nations Cup world finals and I have seen some spectacular goals scored.  I also want to have lots of fun.”

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

DNC Partners:

Clapham High School from Gauteng are the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup champions.

Clapham High School from Gauteng were crowned the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup champions after beating Sukuma High School from KwaZulu-Natal 5 – 0 in the final match that took place in Soweto today.

Clapham is the only school to have won the tournament twice (they won in 2013), and they take home R1 million to be spent on legacy projects that will make a difference to the school and all its learners.

Sukuma put on a fine performance, and to have reached the national finals on their first attempt in the tournament is an amazing achievement.  The school wins R600 000.

There were a host of high profile government officials watching the final match including the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, as well as tournament founder and prominent business man, Mr Patrice Motsepe and his wife, Dr Precious Motsepe.

The Clapham team was made up of players that are attached to the Mamelodi Sundowns Academy and Sundowns head coach, Pitso Mosimane and assistant Trott Moloto were also in attendance to watch their development players to look for their future stars.

“There is no better tournament than the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup,” said Moloto.  “It allows for kids from the most rural areas the opportunity to play competitive football as well and get the chance to better their football careers by being identified by PSL Clubs.”

“Players that started in school football include the likes of Lucas Radebe, Phil Masinga and the late Thomas Madigage.  The latter two I personally taught when I was still teaching Maths at Phefeni Secondary School in Soweto.  I then sent them to Jomo Sono who developed them into international players,” said Moloto.

In the third/fourth play-off the SAFA Transnet School of Excellence finished in third place to take home R500 000 and rank outsiders, Groblershoop from the Northern Cape  finished in fourth position to win R400 000.

Individual awards were presented to:

Coach of the tournament:  Mike Mandzini

Top Goalscorer:  Keletso Makgalwa (Clapham)

Player of the Tournament: Mlondi Dlamini (Clapham)

It's Gauteng against KwaZulu-Natal in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup final

2013 champions, Clapham High School will play Sukuma Secondary School from KZN in the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup national final match on Saturday, 10 October, at the Nike Centre, Soweto, kick-off at 12.30pm.

Sukuma came into the national finals as the dark horses having registered to participate in the tournament for the first time this year. They finished in third spot in Group A and went through to the quarters as one of the lucky losers.  The school then beat HTS Louis Botha in the quarterfinals and Groblershoop from the Northern Cape in the semi-finals.

Clapham meanwhile has not lost a single match at the national finals, drawing one game against Dr Reginald Cingo from the Free State to finish top of Group A.  They played the same school in the quarterfinals managing to defeat them 2 – 0 this time.  The match of the day was the semi-final between Clapham and the SAFA Transnet School of Excellence which Clapham won on penalties.

The third/fourth playoff between the School of Excellence and Groblershoop will kick-off at 10 am tomorrow, Saturday.  This will be followed by a live performance by Mafikizolo and Jankie and the final will kick-off at 12.30pm.  In attendance will be acclaimed businessman, Mr Patrice Motsepe and a couple of ANC ministers.

Clapham will go into the finals as favourites, having won the tournament before (2013) and boosted by the Mamelodi Sundowns development players.  Head coach, Pitso Mosimane, visited the boys to give them a motivational talk and offer encouragement.  But there are no guarantees in football and at the end of the day it is the school that scores the most goals that will win.

Clapham also has in its favour a strong strike force.  Keletso Makgalwa is currently the highest goals corer having netted six times.  Ray-Shaun Modise from Groblershoop is lying second on the table with 5 goals.  Tomorrow will determine who the trophy will go to.

No matter what the outcome tomorrow, all four schools have won money. But how this will be split is still to be determined.  First prize is R1 million, Second, third and fourth prizes are R600 000, R500 000 and R400 000 respectively

Results of the day’s play:

Quarter Finals

HTS Louis Botha 0 (4) vs Sukuma 0 (5)
Excelsior 0 (3) vs Groblershoop 0 (4)

School of Excellence 3 vs Benny's Care 0
Scorers: Gift Khangala (OG), Sabelo Siphamandla, Edwine Sekhwama

Clapham 2 Dr Cingo 0 
Scorers: Mokoena Mbuti (OG), 
Keletso Makgalwa

9-12 position

Sizwakele 0 vs Phangalele 2
Scorer: Mavume Esthu x 2

Desmond Mpilo 0 vs Tshedimosetso 1
Scorers: Lucky Dikgale

17-18 position

Ingabade 0 vs Itshupeng 1
Scorer: Mongale Mosimanegape

13th - 16th position

Mmammoka 0 (4) vs Kriel 0 (5)

Weslaan 2 Walmer 0
Scorer: Breyton Steenkamp x 2

15th - 16th 
Mmammoka 2 vs Walmer 0

Scorers: Morudu Matome, Mashao Katlego

13^th – 14^th

Weslaan 1 vs Kriel 0 (Walkover)

5^th – 8^th

Benny's Care 2 vs Dr Cingo 3
Scorers: Nemazwi Mutshidzi, Munyai Khazwiiti (Benny's Care), Teboho Motsoane, Itumeleng Nkeane x 2 (Dr Cingo)

HTS Louis Botha 1 (4) vs Excelsior 1 (2)
Scorers: Lukhanyiso Sani (HTS), Gary Bailey (Excelsior)

9^th – 10^th

Tshedimosetso 1 vs Phangalele 4
Scorers: Abel Modaikgotla (Tshedimosetso) and Loyiso Mabukela x 2, Siphumao Libala, Soneliso Flephu (Phangalele )

11^th – 12^th

Desmond Mpilo 0 vs Sizwakele 2
Scorers: Thuto Tsotetsi, S'fiso Mthombeni

7^th – 8^th

Excelsior 1 vs Benny's Care 2
Scorers: Grant Cloete (Excelsior), Nemaxwi Mutshidi, Mafichi Personius (Benny's Care)

5^th – 6^th

HTS Louis Botha 1 vs Dr Cingo 2
Scorers: Immanuel Pietersen (HTS), Bongani Sethole, Mbuti Mokoena (Dr Cingo)

Semi Finals

School of Excellence 0 (3) vs Clapham 0 (4)

Groblershoop 1 (6) vs Sukuma 1 (7)

Surprise upsets at the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup quarterfinals

The Gauteng representatives in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup national finals will meet in the semi-finals of the competition at the Nike Football Centre in Soweto later on today.

Clapham High School and the SAFA Transnet Sport School of Excellence, both former champions in the competition, will face off for a place in Saturday's R1million final, and Groblershoop of the Northern Cape will take on Sukuma Secondary School from KwaZulu-Natal.

Groblershoop caused one of the upsets of the tournament when they beat Western Cape representatives, Excelsior, on penalties, in their quarterfinal clash. Groblershoop had scraped through into the quarterfinals, after losing one and drawing one of their preliminary round matches.

Sakuma are also surprise semi-finalists - they went through to the quarters as one of the lucky losers, having finished third in their group in this three pool tournament.  They went on to beat HTS Louis Botha from the Free State on penalties to prevent them going through to the semi’s.  HTS Louis Botha is boosted by Bloemfontein Celtic academy players.

 Clapham, the school that the Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy players attend, beat Dr Reginald Cingo of the Free State 2-0 in their quarterfinal. They were unbeaten in the pool stages, although they were held to a goalless draw by Dr Cingo in their round-robin clash on the opening day.

The Gauteng final will kick-off later on today.

Quarter Final Results

HTS Louis Botha 0 (4) vs Sukuma 0 (5)

Excelsior 0 (3) vs Groblershoop 0 (4)

 School of Excellence 3 vs Benny's Care 0
Scorers: Gift Khangala (OG), Sabelo Siphamandla, Edwine Sekhwama

Clapham 2 Dr Cingo 0 
Scorers: Mokoena Mbuti (OG), 
Keletso Makgalwa

Clapham 2 Dr Cingo 0 
Scorers: Mokoena Mbuti (OG), 
Keletso Makgalwa