Wednesday, April 25, 2018

First school qualifies for the Free State Danone Nations Cup provincial final



Free State is hosting the second under-12 Danone Nations Cup provincial final scheduled to take place at Grey College in Bloemfontein on 5th May where five schools will contest for a spot in the national finals. The ultimate winner will compete in the world finals happening in Spain in 2019.

Tshediso-Xolani Primary School is the first to qualify and will represent the Fezile Dabi district. The school first entered the tournament in 2008 and this is the first time they have ever reached the provincial finals.

The school is situated in the rural town of Tweeling with 1206 learners. Mokoena, who teaches Sesotho and English at the school, has been coaching the team since 2008. He attributes his success this year to getting his SAFA level one coaching qualification, obtained through the Department of Basic Education in 2016.

“The course was aimed at coaching youth and how to prepare and better train them from a young age.  I have since developed better tactics which was the answer to our success this year,” said Mokoena, who also says he has a stronger team than in previous years as many of his players also compete at local club level.

The key player in the team is the captain, defender/midfielder Mokwining Tsotesi.  Although he is competing in the Danone Nations Cup for the first time, he also plays for the All-Star Football Club. “He has great ball control and is always looking for opportunities to score goals. He scored 9 goals during the regional finals,” said the coach.

Mokoena says he is nervous about the provincial finals as this will be the first time that the school has gone this far in the competition. “We aren’t sure what to expect but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

The Fezile Dabi regional finals took place on the 14th of April at Nelson Mandela Primary School. Four schools participated: Nelson Mandela Primary School, Dibaseholo Public School, Voorwaarts Primary School and Tshediso-Xolani Primary School.

The games were played in very hot conditions, which was a challenge, admitted the coach.  Their first match was against Dibaseholo Public School and both teams were exhausted within 5 minutes. It ended in a 3-all draw. The second match was against Voorwaarts Primary School. The players were more relaxed at this point and the weather had cooled down. Tshediso- Xolani won 3-1
The final game was against the hosts Nelson Mandela Primary School. It was their best game. The Nelson Mandela players failed to communicate during the match and seemed to get frustrated with each other. Tshediso- Xolani were able to beat them 6-0

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