When
the Western Cape under-12 Danone Nations Cup provincial finals kick off at the
Van Riebeeck stadium in Mossel Bay on Saturday 3rd June, Zwelihle Primary
School, representing Overberg, will be there again. They will be up against newcomers, Saxonsea
Primary, representing Cape Town for the first time.
Zwelihle
competed in the provincial finals in 2013, the year after they first entered
the tournament, and again in 2016. Their coach, Sivuyile Mgobhozi, is hoping
that the experience they have gained will get them that step further into the
national finals this year.
Mgobhozi
is well equipped as a coach having got to the school via the Western Cape Government’s
Mass Participation, Opportunity and Access programme, run by the Department of
Cultural Affairs and Sport.
He
was seconded to Zwelihle Primary in 2012 with the aim of assisting the learners
to develop their human and social development skills and to become better
people in their communities.
He
went on to get a SAFA Level 1 coaching qualification in 2014, and has experience
at club level having coached at Home Destroyers in 2013 and 2014.
His
dream is to take the school through to the national finals, which could well
happen with his experience as well as having three of last year’s players back in
his squad.
In
the regional finals in Hermanus on May 24th Zwelihle was grouped
with Masakhane Primary School and Die Bron.
In
their first game Masakhane scored early but Zwelihle fought back and leveled
the score to draw 1-1. They beat Die Bron easily, 3-0 and their final match was
the toughest, against Lukhanyo Primary School.
Lukhanyo went 2 goals ahead in the game, but Zwelihle didn’t give up.
They managed to score 3 goals, shocking the opposition who thought they had won
it already.
Saxonsea Primary School, representing Cape Town will be at the
provincial finals for the first time, although they have been playing in the
tournament since 2008.
Their manager and coach, Gary Markus, is excited that this has
happened at last. He has been working at the school for 23 years and in March
this year he was appointed as the school’s acting principal.
“There’s a lot of crime in the area, so we encourage the kids to
take part in sporting activities to keep them active and out of trouble,” he
said.
Markus has been part of the Western Cape and Boland soccer
committee since 1991 and will be assisted by Timothy van Wyk, a former leaner
at the school
All the players also compete for Jomo’s Power Football Club, based
in Atlantis, Markus explains, which is an advantage.
“The Danone Nations Cup brings a lot of excitement to the school regardless of the
outcome. The players look forward to being part of the team,” he said.
There
is not much time to prepare for the provincial finals, Markus said, and
although they might have won all their regional final games, they made a lot of
mistakes, particularly in defence, which need to be rectified before Saturday.
The
regional finals were at Lentegeur in Mitchelsplein on
27th May. 16 schools took part in a knock out tournament.
Saxonsea and Kulukhanyo Primary played to a goaless draw in
the 1st round and Saxonsea won 5-4 in a penalty shootout to go through to the
quarterfinals, which they also won on penalties after a goaless draw in
regulation time.
Markus
said they went into the semifinal with a new approach as they could not keep
winning on penalty shootouts. That
worked and they beat Sigcawu Primary 2-0.
The
final was against Christmas Tinto Primary School. Saxonsea stuck to the same
formula and won 4-1 to take the Cape Town regional title.
The
schools participating in the Western Cape provincial finals are:
Overberg: Zwelihle Primary School.
West Coast: Naphakade Primary School
Central Karoo: Teske Memorial Primary School
Cape Town: Saxonsea Primary School
Eden: Isalathiso
Primary School
Winelands:
Idas Valley Primary School
Entrance
is fee and games kick-off at 10am.
Danone Partners
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