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The Danone Nations Cup soccer tournament
provides an opportunity, every year, for thousands of young players to be
involved in the biggest competition in the world for youngsters between the age
of 10 and 12 years old. It also acts as
a window for the most talented of them to be seen by scouts from the various
clubs and academies who are on the lookout for the game’s potential future
stars.
One of those was unearthed at the 2013
tournament, playing for East London’s Charles Morgan Primary School. He is
Mihlali Damesi who is now a member of the Amajimbos, the national under-17
team.
2013 was a good year for discovering future
stars. Also identified that year was Xolanin Muleya who played for Benny’s
Sports Development and Academy and now the two boys are team mates. They both played
together for the SA under-17s in a 4-nations tournament in Lesotho at the end
of last year.
Charles Morgan Primary is one of the schools
that will be in action at the Danone Nations Cup Eastern Cape provincial finals
on Saturday 4th August at Laёrskool Kuswag in East London.
Their coach, Masixole Goli, believes the
tournament is very important precisely because it gives kids from schools in
the townships and rural areas the chance to be seen by scouts. “Reaching the
provincial finals has become my goal every year,” he said. “It’s at this level
that the scouts begin attending and you have to be there to give the players
that exposure.”
The 2019 Danone Nations Cup world finals
tournament in Spain will incorporate the 2018 world finals, as a double-header,
which has given the schools more time to prepare as the local games have been
spread out throughout the year.
This has allowed for extra training for the
boys from Charles Morgan Primary School. “We have been entering the tournament
for many years and have made the provincial finals twice before, in 2013 and
2015,” Goli explains. “We didn’t enter last because we didn’t have enough time
to prepare properly. The competition was completed early in the year and there
just wasn’t enough time.”
Instead, a team was chosen last year and Goli
told them to play club football throughout the year to keep the momentum going.
“They all did that, and I am confident we will do well this year. Hopefully we
will get into the national finals this time.”
Goli has no formal coaching qualification. He
watches local games to develop his knowledge of the game and talks a lot to the
coaches of the clubs that his players belong to.
“The most important thing is to play the boys
in their correct positions,” he said. “Boys of this age just want to go
out onto the field and play and have fun, but it is important for a coach to
try them out in different positions and move them around according to their
strengths.”
He is confident that they are ready for the
provincial finals. “‘We are determined to win and have the backing of the
school’s staff, all the learners and the parents who will be attending the
provincial final to cheer us on.”
The Eastern Cape provincial finalists are:
Joe Gqabi district: Ngxaza Junior Secondary
School
Chris Hani district: Empumelelelweni Senior
Primary School
Buffalo City Municipality: Charles Morgan
Primary School
Amathole district: Fort Malan Senior Primary
School
Alfred Nzo district: Patekile Junior Secondary
School
Sarah Baartman district: Gcinubuzwe Primary
School
OR Tambo district: Nomandi Junior Secondary
School
Nelson Mandela Bay: Mzimhlophe Primary School
Ends
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