Northern Cape to host Danone Nations Cup provincial final

Northern Cape will host the second provincial final at the Upington College soccer fields in Upington on Saturday, 27^th April. The five regional winners will compete for the chance to travel to Gauteng to play in the national finals.  The ultimate winner will catch a flight to Barcelona to represent South Africa at the competition’s world finals between 10^th and 12^th October.

Tshwerelela Primary School from Kimberley will represent the Frances Baard region for the first time in the provincial finals.  The school has been competing in the tournament for a number of years but, according to coach, Thuso Marupeng, they have never managed to reach this stage before.

Marupeng, a Natural Science and Life Orientation teacher at the school, believes he has the best team he has had at the under-12 level for many years, and he feels they could well help take the school to the national finals. 

“The entire squad is good, but I have an outstanding midfielder in General Leburu,” he said.  “He has exceptional skill and soccer comes naturally to him.  He scored six goals at the district final. My goalkeeper, who we call Khune, is also excellent as is defender Thato.  They all have a good knowledge of the game and can read the game well.  Just watch us, we are about to do great things!”

Marupeng has no formal coaching qualifications but competed a Sports Management diploma, so he does have some knowledge of working with kids.

In order to get to the nationals Marupeng will have play against coach Modise Seemo’s school, Segonyana Primary School from Kuruman, representing the John Taolo Gaetsewe district.

“My boys play with passion,” said Seemo.  “I have a good combination of players, particularly in the midfield, this year.  Our road to the provincials was tough, but we won all our games and we are ready to take on the other four finalists!”

The team with the best statistics is Namakwa’s, Ferdinand Brecher Primary School.  According to their new coach, Gerrit Afrikaner, the school played 6 qualification games and scored 22 goals and conceded only 3.

Afrikaner has no formal qualifications but has played the game since the age of 11 and has played at National First Division level for most of his adult life.  “I moved to Steinkops (where Ferdinand Brecher is based) four years ago,” said the coach.  “And while I was playing for the local soccer club a member of the School Governing Board (SGB) asked me to coach the Grade R kids at the school.  This year they asked me to coach the under-12’s as they were not doing well.  I am very proud to have taken the team to the Danone Nations Cup provincial finals.”

Afrikaner said he has a midfielder who has talent that he has never seen before at such a young age.  “Miguel is a right-footed player but can pass with both feet and reads the game incredibly well.  I can see him going far in the sport provided he keeps his focus and passion.  I also have three other players that are skilled, and I am really looking forward to the provincials to see how they match up with the other schools.”

Pixley region is still to complete their regional finals.

Games kick-off at 10am and entrance is free.  Everyone coming to the stadium will get to sample Danone’s yoghurt products including NutriDay, YogiSip, DanUp and many more.

About Danone

Danone Southern Africa is part of the Danone Group, one of the fastest-growing food companies in the world.  Danone is present in over 120 countries across all continents. With 160 plants and around 100,000 employees, the Danone Group is the number one worldwide for Fresh Dairy Products. Danone’s mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible.

One of the core values of the Danone Nations Cup tournament is to encourage young people to believe in their dreams. Through this initiative Danone offers a sporting event that reaches out to and inspires millions of children all over the world

GROUP DANONE

Dedicated to bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone is a leading global food & beverage company building on health-focused and fast-growing categories in three businesses: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based Products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices, in line with its ‘One Planet. One Health’ vision which reflects a strong belief that the health of people and that of the planet are interconnected. To bring this vision to life and create superior, sustainable, profitable value for all its stakeholders, Danone has defined its 2030 Goals: a set of nine integrated goals aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Danone commits to operating in an efficient, responsible and inclusive manner; it holds itself to the highest standards in doing business, as reflected by its ambition to become one of the first multinationals certified as B CorpTM. With more than 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated €24.7 billion in sales in 2018. Danone’s portfolio includes leading international brands (Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, among others) as well as strong local and regional brands (including AQUA, Blédina, Bonafont, Cow & Gate, Horizon, Mizone, Oikos, Prostokvashino, Silk, Vega).