The next round of the under-12
Danone Nations Cup provincial soccer final playoffs will be in Polokwane, at
Hoërskool Noorderland on the 13th May, when Megoring Primary
School (Capricorn district), Kgwahlele Primary School (Waterberg district),
Haggai Independent Private School (Vhembe district),Thapola-A-Nkona Primary
School (Mopani district) and Katang Primary School (Sekhukhune district) battle
it out for the Limpopo crown.
Haggai Independent Private School
from Thohoyandou-K in Venda is the school to watch. It opened in 1993 and now
has 320 learners and offers boarding for boys aged between 10 and 18.
This the first time that the
school has entered the Danone Nations Cup and they have won through to the
provincial finals by beating reigning champions, Benny’s Sports Development and
Academy, which has excited coach, Justice Matloga, the previous head coach at
Benny’s.
Matloga coached Benny’s from 2004
until 2015 after being approached by David Mufamadi the owner of Benny’s. He
has two coaching qualifications: a D Licence from SAFA, and a certificate in
Sports Development in Coaching from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
In 2011 he was named the Best
Coach in Limpopo and in 2013 he won the award for best coach at an under 16
national tournament.
He played a great role in the
success of Benny’s Academy. He coached the u-19 team that won more R500 000 for
the school in prize money, so he has directly helped build the school.
Now he is hoping for the same
success at Haggai Independent Private School.
“I left Benny’s Academy at the
end of 2015 to pursue my dream of opening an academy,” Matloga said. “It’s
called the Greenway Sport Academy and we use the facilities at Haggai. The
school’s principal, Mr Thomas Thinawanga Mudau, allowed us to do that on the
proviso that we develop the school’s team at the same time as building the
academy’s profile, so I was employed as the school’s soccer head coach.”
Haggai Independent beat Benny’s
twice in the Danone Nations Cup regional finals a few weeks ago, so it was a
case of the current champions being knocked out by a team trained by their
ex-coach.
The regional finals took place at
Benny’s Sports Development and Academy on the 21st of April.
Six schools took part.
The players were very nervous
going in the playoffs, Matloga said, especially since Benny’s were the 2016
winners of the Danone Nations Cup and they had a lot of experience.
Benny’s were determined to keep
their title, but Haggai scored a goal in the second half and their defenders
managed to keep Benny’s out until the final whistle was blown.
They played Benny’s again later
in the day and scored a first-half goal. Benny’s came at them hard in the
second half but never managed to score.
“Our defence was too strong, so
we held out and finished on top of our stream,” Motlaga said.
That put them in the final
against Botsoleni Primary School from Mhinga. A tough match ended goalless and
Haggai won the penalty shootout 6-5.
“I believe the success of
coaching at this age is creating relationships with players and understanding
how to deal with young players. Communication is key,” Motlaga said.
“I believe I communicate very
well with his players and I try to keep a level of professionalism in
everything. I’m teaching these young players to always maintain a strong level
of respect, for their fellow players, for the tournament, and for the game of
soccer.”
The team’s captain and centre
back Potego Maruma, was the key player in of the regional tournament, Motlaga
said. “His leadership got us into the finals and this will be the first major
soccer tournament the boys will every have played in. We are going to need him
to step up again at the provincials.”
Ends
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