Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Laёrskool Rustenburg Noord will be representing the North West Province at the Danone Nations Cup National Finals


Laёrskool Rustenburg Noord were well deserving winners of the under-12 Danone Nations Cup North West provincial finals, which took place this past weekend at the Alabama Stadium in Klerksdorp.

History will be made in that it will be the first time that a female coach will be in charge of a team at National Final level, as this has not happened in a Danone Nations Cup tournament in South Africa.

“I am overwhelmed,” said an excited Busisiwe Mangena.  “My team was fantastic, and I am so proud of all my players.  They started off a little nervous but soon gained their confidence and just went from strength to strength.

“The final round robin game pitted us against Refethuto Primary and the boys put their heart and soul into ensuring a good win (8 – 0).  This put us into the final scheduled immediately after our last league game and I was worried that the boys would be exhausted.   But, once again, they proved that they have the stamina and endurance to continue their winning ways and we finally beat Kwala-Kitso 3 – 1 to take us to the next step, which is the national finals.”

Laёrskool Rustenburg Noord was boosted by an exceptionally gifted youngster, Koketso Tshwene, who was a member of the Mamelodi Sundowns Rustenburg satellite development programme when he was just 8 years old.  Due to transport problems he was unable to continue and is currently attending the Atletico Academy in Rustenburg.

“I remember Koketso well as a talented youngster at the Sundowns Academy,” said Mamelodi Sundowns scout, Mandla Mazibuko.  “While he was with us he was not shy to take chances and was constantly shooting at goals which earned him the nickname, Messi.”

Koketso’s parents, George and Joyce Tshwene were at the game to watch their son in action.  “We travel everywhere to support Koketso,” said a proud Joyce Tshwene, who is a project manager with the SA Airforce VVIP unit. “I would like him to come to Tshwane next year so that he can continue with Sundowns. He has the talent and is confident on the ball and I would like to give him the best grounding.  Who knows, one day he might play for South Africa!”

Mazibuko has attended most of the Danone Nations Cup finals this year and has identified good coaching as key to the success of developing youngsters.  “To ensure excellent results at top level (Club and Bafana Bafana level) we need to ensure that structures at youth level are in place.  We have so much talent in this country, and to keep up with the way the game is evolving at a technical and tactical level, kids need to learn as early as possible so that it becomes a habit.  This means that schools need to teach correct methods.”

There were four regional finalists that competed in the North West provincial finals.
Kwala-Kitso Primary School (Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati region)
Rustenburg Laerskool Noord (Bojanala region)
Potchefstroom Primary School (Dr Kenneth Kaunda region)
Refethuto Primary School (Ngaka Modiri Molema region)

Results
GAME 1:  Potchefstroom 2 – 0 Refethuto
GAME 2:  Rustenburg Noord 0 (2) – (3) 0 Kwala-Kitso
GAME 3: Rustenburg Noord 1   -  0 Potchefstroom
GAME 4:  Refethuto 1  -   2 Kwala-Kitso
GAME 5:   Kwala-Kitso 0 (0) -   (1) 0 Potchefstroom
GAME 6:  Refethuto 0  -  8 Rustenburg Noord
FINAL MATCH:   Laerskool Rustenburg Noord 3 – 1 Kwala-Kitso

Ends. 







 



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