The long sifting process is over
and the nine schools that will be competing for the national title in the
Danone Nations Cup competition have been identified.
They will gather at the WJ
Clements Stadium in Reiger Park, Boksburg on Saturday June 25th for
the tournament’s national finals day (kickoff 9.30am).
The teams have come through
local, regional and provincial elimination stages and are now playing for the
big prize: the chance to represent South Africa at the Danone Nations Cup world
finals in France in October.
Danone and the sponsorship
partners, Mille, have laid on quite a day, with plenty of fun activities on the
adjacent fields to entertain the public, and free NutriDay yoghurt, Yogi Sip,
Mayo and UltraMel for everyone who attends.
Entrance to the stadium is free
Of the nine competing schools only
one – Eastern Cape champions, Barkerville, the 2012 national champions – have
won the title before, and most of them have never competed in the nationals
before.
So, predicting who will win is
not easy.
Nancy Shiba Primary School,
representing Mpumalanga, are in the tournament for only the second time. Their
coach, Andile Moloto, says that since they won their provincial title he has
been approached by a community member who is involved in soccer development to
assist as a mentor and technical coach, and he has also received calls from
both Pirates and Sundowns, wanting to come and look at his team.
Training is going well at the
school, although exams have put a stop to the extra training which they wanted
to do.
Moloto believes passing the ball
effectively and executing in front of goal are essential, so those are the
things he is concentrating on with the team.
Musa Memela, coach of KZN
champions, Mthethomusha Primary School, said their preparations are a bit slow
at the moment due to the mid-year exams, but they have been playing friendlies
against local club teams.
He has been following the other
schools they will be playing against on Facebook, so knows who his competition
will be and he feels confident they will do well.
“We are focussing on score
quickly as the games are only 20 minutes long and this doesn’t give much time.
Attack is key in such short games,” he said.
Mthethomusha striker,
Qiniso Ngubane, will be a key player, the coach said. “He has the speed and
ability to score. He is a bit too emotional but he is also a great motivator,
and has plenty of experience.”
Witsieshoek Primary will be
representing the Free Sate and their manager, Zwelibanzi Zimu, said
preparations are going very well.
“We have had great support from
the district director of education who has arranged a district tournament to
help get the boys used to playing competitively,” he said.
They have also had assessments
from the Charles Mopeli High Performance centre, and attended training sessions
there.
Zimu has been impressed with
striker, Reabetswe Moloi. “He is an ambitious player, he is a quick learner and
has improved greatly.”
The last school to win a place in
the nationals was Benny’s Sports and Development Academy. They will be
representing Limpopo at the nationals and will be the only Academy in action on
Saturday.
Their coach, Mbishi Mokoena said,
after winning their provincial final this week that their build up will focus
on getting the kids used to playing on grass as all their fields are
sand.
“The boys did not play well in
their first provincial final game as they were playing on grass, which they
rarely get the opportunity to play on.” He said. “ I could see they were
slipping and they were not used to the way the ball bounced and how
unpredictable it was. It also affected their confidence; however they did come
back and win. The nationals will be on grass and they need a bit more
practice as this level is very tough and we know that we will be facing still
opposition.”
The participating schools are:
Eastern Cape - Bakerville Junior
Secondary School, Mt Frere
Free State - Witsieshoek Primary,
Phuthadithjaba
Gauteng - St Joseph's Kulani
Primary, Winterveldt
KZN - Mthethomusha Primary,
Edendale
North West - BM Mokitime Primary,
Mafikeng
Western Cape - St Helena Bay
Primary, St Helena Bay
Mpumalanga - Nancy Shiba Primary,
Emalahleni
Northern Cape - Van Rensburg
Primary, Britstown
Limpopo – Benny’s Sports
Development & Academy, Vhembe
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