Sherwood Primary School will be representing Umlazi/Durban are in the Danone Nations Cup KwaZulu-Natal provincial final

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Sherwood Primary School, based in the Umlazi/ Durban area, have been participating in the Danone Nations Cup for the past 12 years and have made it to the provincial finals numerous times, so they will be one of the more experienced schools participating in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial finals taking place at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Pinetown on Saturday 28th July.

Their coach for the past eight year, Linda Sithole, has handed over the reins to Jose Africa this year, but will remain the manager of the team due to his vast experience in the tournament and to pass on the vast amount of knowledge he gained when he obtained his SAFA introductory coaching certificate.

“My work load at the school has increased and I can no longer focus on both education and sport, so I have chosen Jose, who also works at the school and still plays the game, to manage the boys.  I will remain the manager,” he said.

Sithole has a passion for the game, “Soccer is my life! I played the game throughout my school career until a knee injury forced me to retire early.  I could not turn my back on the sport so ventured into coaching the youth.”

Preparations for the provincial finals are going well he said. “It’s not a case of how good our team is, we always have a good team, it’s more a case of how strong the opposition is. Some years the opposition is exceptional and other years we cruise through. We’ll see what happens on 28^th July.”

Sithole is a South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) district member and manages and runs the games at the cluster and district level for the province. He is so passionate about the game that he has encouraged 20 schools in the area to register for the Danone Nations Cup to increase the competition. “It is important for my team to get as much game practice as possible as this will help us as we progress in the tournament.”

Sherwood hosted all the qualification games this year.  “We take the Danone Nations Cup seriously.  We went as far as contracting our maintenance man to build goals specifically for these games.”

Sithole has watched every game played in the current world cup, taking place in Russia, repeatedly and believes that the game is evolving all the time and he has learnt so much.  “It’s much more tactical and technical these days. I doubt if Pelé or Maradona would be as good if they played the game today. It’s not just about skills, it is much more!”

“I have noticed that a brilliant defense is what wins games,” he said.  “Goals are no longer scored from inside the penalty box, but the shots can come from any angle and your defense has to be good.”

Brazil, Uruguay and Belgium are the teams he particularly admires. “Look how few goals they have conceded.”

Sherwood has an all-rounder in the team that will be playing in the provincial finals.  Sithole believes he will set the tournament alight. “He will be noticed! He plays in defense and scores goals. He reads the game well and is a clever player. I’m expecting big things from him. We want to encourage everyone to come and watch us as we will keep everyone entertained.”

Participating schools:

DISTRICT	SCHOOL
AMAJUBA	Esididini PS
HARRY GWALA	Summerfield PS
ILEMBE	Shakaskraal SA PS
KING-CETSHWAYO	Muzuvukile PS
PINETOWN	Georgetown Full Service School
UGU	Dunywa PS
UMGUNGUNDLOVU	Nhlambamasoka PS
UMKHANYAKUDE	Qomukuphila PS
UMLAZI	Sherwood PS
UMZINYATHI	Lewis Combined School
UTHUKILA	Jabulani PS
ZULULAND	Ningizimu PS

 Ends.