Danone Nations Cup provincial final dates released

 

The dates for the provincial final tournaments in the South African leg of the world’s biggest under-12 soccer tournament – the Danone Nations Cup - have been announced.

Group Danone, the tournament sponsors, will be celebrating their centenary in 2019 and it’s been announced that the 2018 World Finals, at which the champions from all the competing nations participate, will be held next year together with the 2019 tournament in Spain, where Danone was first established 100 years ago.

This means that the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA), who organise the competition here, have more time to stage their provincial tournaments this year because they don’t have to be finished by early July to begin applying for passports and visas.

SASFA are happy with the extra time as this gives them more time to get registrations in and they want their coordinators to go deep into the rural areas to entice schools to compete.

“The Danone Nation Cup is a key tournament on the SASFA calendar and the prize of an overseas trip to compete in the world finals makes it a popular one,” said SASFA’s tournament director Themba Tshabalala. “This year we are making an extra effort to grow the number of participating schools as we have a lot more time.”

The tournament plays a critical role in childhood development for 12-year-olds as it gives them something to strive for, Tshabalala said. “It is also used by educators as a means of teaching life skills –goal-setting, teamwork, perseverance, and the value of hard work. “An important added benefit is that there is an emphasis on teaching kids how to develop healthy eating habits which will benefit them throughout their lives.”

The Northern Cape province will kick-start the provincial finals on 14^th April with Upington the host town again. Final registrations are still coming in, but it’s expected that more than 130 schools will register, and they will begin their cluster level games in the first week of March. Bankhara Bodulong Primary School represented the province at last year’s national finals, and they already have their entry in for this year’s competition.

South Africa has been competing in the Danone Nations Cup since its inception in 2000 and is one of only 2 countries that has won the tournament 3 times (2003,2007 and 2009). The other country being France.

The dates and venues of the 2018 Provincial Finals are:

·  Northern Cape: April 14 (Upington)

·  Free State: May 5 (Bloemfontein)

·  North West: May 19 (Klerksdorp)

·  Limpopo: June 2 (Polokwane)

·  Mpumalanga: June 9 (Secunda)

·  KwaZulu-Natal: July 28 (Pinetown)

·  Eastern Cape: August 4 (East London)

·  Western Cape: August 11 (Cape Town)

·  Gauteng: August 25 (Reiger Park).

The National Finals will be in Gauteng on 15^th September, at a venue still to be announced.

Schools can still register for the competition by contacting the national coordinator at the SA Schools Football Association (SASFA), Themba Tshabalala, on 011 403 2844, 084 290 0602 or 072 588 4957. Alternatively, they can visit the Danone Nations Cup South Africa Facebook page or go to www.facebook.com/dncsouthafrica to download the necessary documents. (Documents are always on Danone.co.za also)

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Rondebosch and St Albans make it to the national finals of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge

Cape Town-based Rondebosch Boys High and St Albans College from Pretoria have qualified to represent the Cobras and Titans at the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge National Finals in March.

Rondebosch took on Outeniqua High School and Paul Roos Gymnasium in the Cobras Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge Franchise Finals at their home ground on Saturday, 23 January 2018. Outeniqua Paul Roos were no match for a well drilled Rondebosch team who had stand out performances by Reese Scheepers with the ball, Justin Broad and Quinton Oordt with the bat, and their wicket keeper Ethan Nates who made 3 stumpings and 2 runouts.

St Albans College were crowned the Titans franchise champions after beating Marais Viljoen High School.

Marais Viljoen won the toss and decided to bat first. The opening partnership of Neil Bothma (33 off 13 balls) and Liam Murphy (30 off 16 balls) got them off to a fast start. At one stage they had 62 runs off 5 overs. St Albans did not let the fast start get to them and started taking wickets at short intervals. Marais Viljoen only managed to add another 74 runs in the next 15 over to post 136/7. Like Marais Viljoen, St Albans openers got them off to a good start and chased down 137 to win in in 15.4 overs with the loss of only 3 wickets.

During the two franchise finals, four players were selected to be part of the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star Team to take on the Cricket South Africa Development team at national finals. The new addition of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge is aimed at spreading the talent search net wider and will see a team of cricket experts attend all franchise finals in search of outstanding players in the teams that do not qualify for the national finals.

Outeniqua's all-rounder, Matthew Thorn's and Paul Roos’ batsman, Rudi Klaasen were selected during the Cobras Franchise Finals. Thorn’s performance with bat and ball and Klaasen’s batting display throughout the day impressed the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star selectors, earning them a spot in the team.

“I have mixed emotions today, on the one hand I am very happy that I was picked for the All-Star team but on the other hand I would have loved it if my school had qualified for the National Finals. It is now up to me to represent my school in a curtain-raiser at the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge Finals," said Matthew Thorn.

During the Titans Franchise Finals, Neil Bothma and Khaya Nyamathe from Marais Viljoen were selected for the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star team.

"It is a real honour to be picked to play in the Coca-Cola T20All-Star team. I am disappointed that we lost today but I am happy that cricket won the day," said Khaya Nyamathe.

Neil Bothma, Khaya Nyamathe, Matthew Thorn and Rudi Klaasen join Mason Zacharea and Reeza Alexander, Matthew Montgomery and Simon Holmes in the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star team. 

To engage with the tournament online, search #WhereHeroesAreMade on Twitter or visit @CocaCola_ZA and @OfficialCSA

Proteas square series against KFC Mini-Cricket Kids

The Proteas levelled the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour one-all when they edged the KFC Mini-Cricket kids from St Andrews Primary School, winning by a single run. The tour match, which was played on Thursday, 22 February at PPC Newlands Cricket Ground, saw almost 300 KFC Mini-Cricket kids and spectators in attendance to cheer both teams.

The day kicked off with a KFC Mini-Cricket Regional Festival, where 17 schools from around Cape Town played in a KFC Mini-Cricket regional festival, which was the curtain raiser to the second KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour match of the season.

The Proteas team was led by Chris Morris and included Farhaan Behardien, Tabriz Shamzi, Stacey Lakay, David Miller, Heinrich Claasen, Aaron Phangiso, and Lara Goodall.

The kids won the toss and decided to field first and were confident that they could chase down whatever score the Proteas could put up. The Proteas batting pack of Tarbriz Shamsi, David Miller and Lara Goodall took on the challenge and managed to get an impressive 52 runs off their 8 overs, which required for the kids to dig deep if they were to win.

The start of the second innings saw KFC Mini-Cricket kids get 15 runs on the board after 4 overs. It was the brilliant partnership of McAlestaire Brown and Mondre Whittles that picked some runs for the kids, it was however not to be as the kids only managed to score 51 runs after 8 overs, one run short of the Proteas 52.

KFC Mini-Cricket fast bowler, Nasji Eksteeen, was the most outstanding player on the day, taking 2 wickets for 5 runs, which ultimately won him the KFC Mini-Cricket Man of the Match award.

Proteas batsman, Farhaan Behardien, said, “We had a great day at PPC Newlands Cricket Ground with the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids today. The match was very close, but we’re relived to have won the match and still have the chance to take the series. We look forward to taking on the next KFC Mini-Cricket team in the season decider match.”

“Today was another amazing match in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour. There was so much energy on the field and the kids had a lot of support from all the other schools in attendance. It's great to watch the kids play against their heroes. Congratulations to the Proteas for winning today. They were outstanding and brought great spirit to the game. They really make playing cricket exciting for the kids," said Graeme Smith, Former Proteas captain and KFC Mini-Cricket assistant coach. 

One spot is still up for grabs and schools or cricket clubs can stand a chance to take on the Proteas in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour, by simply dialling *120*7535# or visiting www.kfc.co.za/minicricket now to enter!

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Media Contact

Shawn Belluigi

Tel: 083 675 4338

Email: shawn@intunecom.co.za

About the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids v Proteas Tour

For the fifth 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 full day training session and a game against the Proteas, all assisted by KFC Min-Cricket coaches, Graeme Smith and Mfuneko Ngam.

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 120 000 kids from over 5078 schools active in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme who are coached by nearly 9268 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.

Chris Morris assists KFC Mini-Cricket player Mondre Whittles from St Andrews Primary School in the second KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour match. The Proteas won the match and squared the series 1-1. KFC Mini-Cricket provides opportunities for all involved in the programme to grow, develop and shine. Take part in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour and stand a chance to host the Proteas. enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535)

Chris Morris with man of the match winner Nasji Eksteen who took 2 wickets for 5 runs in 6 balls against the Proteas. St Andrews Primary School played against the Proteas in the second KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour match. The Proteas won the match and squared the series 1-1. KFC Mini-Cricket provides opportunities for all involved in the programme to grow, develop and shine. Take part in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour and stand a chance to host the Proteas. enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535)

KFC Mini-Cricket Kids from St Andrews Primary School celebrate taking a wicket when their school played against the Proteas in the second KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour match. The Proteas won the match and squared the series 1-1. KFC Mini-Cricket provides opportunities for all involved in the programme to grow, develop and shine. Take part in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour and stand a chance to host the Proteas. enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535)

David Miller watched Nasji Eksteen from St Andrews Primary School in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour match at PPC Newlands on the 22nd February. The Proteas won the match and squared the series 1-1. KFC Mini-Cricket provides opportunities for all involved in the programme to grow, develop and shine. Take part in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas tour and stand a chance to host the Proteas. enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535