Final preparations underway before the North West Danone Nations Cup provincial football finals

The focus on the under-12 Danone Nations Cup will be in the North West this week when the province holds their finals on Saturday at the Alabama Stadium in Klerksdorp, kicking off at 10am.  The winner will go through to the national finals in Gauteng on 1 July to determine who will be going through to the world finals.

There will be four schools in action each representing their region including; Tshwaraganelo Primary (Dr RS Mompati district), Inyathelo Primary (Dr Kenneth Kaunda district), BM Mokitime (Ngaka Modiri Molema district) and Mmamitlwa Primary (Bojanala district).

Tshwaraganelo Primary are certainly not new to the competition says manager Jackee Mooketsi, who has been in charge of soccer for the past 17 years and also teaches English and Technology. “We have been entering since 2008 and this will be the second time we have won through to the provincials, but that is as far as we have gone.  Hopefully this will be our year to shine.”

The school is based in Schweizer-Reneke and was established in 1962 boasting 1038 learners.

Mooketsi realized that in order to progress further in the tournament he needed assistance and brought in the Moemi Mogoma as an outside coach 3 years ago. Mogoma doesn’t have a formal coaching qualification, but he has his own club called Iteleng Football Club which he started in 2007. He is passionate about the game, and experienced as a coach.

The team has been steadily improving over the past couple of years, but coach Mogoma has noticed that the players in the team need to focus on their communication skills if they want to go further in the competition. “That’s their weakest point,” he said, “although they also have to improve their tracking of the ball and focus on the execution of scoring as well.”

There are always adjustments that need to be made, he believes. “No team is perfect and this one isn’t,” he said. “My main aim is for them to have fun and enjoy themselves. I don’t want to be too technical with them as that will make them too nervous on the field. I have been focusing on the basics, and as they get older they will learn more about soccer. Right now, having fun and developing a passion for the game is more important.”

Mogoma is happy that they have finally made it to the provincial after 3 years of him coaching the team. “It will be a new experience taking part in such a big tournament, and I’m looking forward to the provincial finals on Saturday,” he said.

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At the Dr RS Mompati regional finals in Vryheid on March 18^th, Tshwaraganelo won one and drew two of their pool games before beating Setumo Primary School from Naledi in the final.

It was a very difficult game, Mogoma said, ending in a goaless draw. That meant the teams went into a penalty shootout.

Setumo Primary School missed all 3 of their shooting opportunities, while Tshwaraganelo scored 2 goals making them the winner of the district and taking them through to the provincial finals.

Competing schools:

DR RS Mompati	Tshwaraganelo Primary School
Dr Kenneth Kaunda	Inyathelo Primary School
Ngaka Modiri Molema	BM Mokitime Primary School
Bojanala	Mmamitlwa Primary School

 
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