Rebonwe girls from Gauteng and KZN’s Muzuvukile boys will be travelling to Spain to participate in the Danone Nations Cup world finals

 

South Africa will make history later this year by sending an under-12 girls soccer team to compete in the Danone Nations Cup world finals, where they will be competing against seven other nations. And the team that will represent the country will be a group of players from an informal settlement in Ivory Park, Gauteng. They earned this opportunity by winning the Danone Nations Cup girls tournament that took place at Reiger Park, Boksburg this past weekend.

They will be accompanied by the boys from Muzuvukile Primary School of Enseleni, a rural area near Richards Bay, who won the boys national finals at the same venue.

A girls tournament was introduced for the first time this year but because most schools do not have girls-only teams, it was a pilot tournament in Gauteng only, with 40 schools participating. 

There were regional finals and 8 schools went through to a provincial playoff. The teams that reached the semifinals there were then invited to compete at the national finals.

Rebonwe met Michael Mkhwanazi Primary in the final. They had played each other earlier in the day and Michael Mkhwanazi won the closely contested match 2-1.

So, Rebonwe knew that they were in for a tough game in the final and gave it everything from the beginning. This time they were better prepared and created many scoring opportunities. They were first to score, but Michael Mkhwanazi equalised within minutes.

Rebonwe had the better of the exchanges from then on and came close to scoring right at the end of the game. It ended in a draw, however, and went to a penalty shootout which Rebonwe won, to add the national title to their provincial title.

At the same time, the nine boys provincial champions competed in the playoffs for their national title. The teams were divided into 2 groups with the teams that topped the log meeting in the final.

Muzuvukile was always going to be the team to beat based on their exceptional performance in the provincial finals. They are a very strong team and three of their players have been invited to attend trials at Mamelodi Sundowns. They won all their league games to finish top of their pool and met Group B winners Patekile from the Eastern Cape in the final match. 

Muzuvukile were the only team that won all their matches leading up to the final and the final was very much like the group stages.

They made many chances to score but the Patekile goalkeeper, Alethu Mathumbu, was outstanding, saving shot after shot. Patekile tried to take advantage of the odd counter-attack but they never really threatened the Muzuvukile goal.

With a couple of minutes left in the match, just as the spectators started to think that we would have another penalty shootout, Siyanda Masinga from Muzuvukile managed to get the ball past Alethu and give Muzuvukile the lead. They had a few more chances to add to their lead but once again Alethu was there to stop them scoring and they ran out 1-0 winners.

It’s now back to school for both the boys and girls winners to put together a plan in preparation of the world finals scheduled for Barcelona starting on 10^th October.

On the final day of the world finals – 12^th October - all the games will take place at the RCDE Stadium, home ground La Liga club, RCD Espanyol de Barcelona. 

In attendance at the national finals was Amanda Dlamini, ex captain of Banyana Banyana, who was there to encourage the girls. “I was 22 when I first travelled overseas for Banyana Banyana and I remember that experience well.  It was daunting and a bit frightening, but it opened my eyes to the limitless opportunities that exist in the world.  I matured fast and I believe these young 12 year-olds will feel the same.”

The 2018 and 2019 world finals will be held as a double header.  “Barcelona is symbolic as it was in this city in 1919 that Isaac Carasso created the first Danone yogurt with the aim of improving one’s health,” said Marlinie Kotiah, General Secretary Danone Southern Africa.  “We are combining Danone’s centenary and the 20^th edition of the world final in a bumper edition this year.  It also coincides with our new brand positioning and purpose, One Planet One Health, which reflects our belief that the health of humankind and that of the planet are interlinked and both need to be protected and nurtured.

“Through the Danone Nations Cup, we are contributing to bringing this vision to life by promoting the importance of exercise. Further, we are encouraging our young athletes to ‘Play Football, Change the Game’, which is a rallying message to unite children, irrespective of their backgrounds and cultures, and to encourage them to become catalysts for positive change,” concluded Kotiah.

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).

The First Powerade Performance Academy is a Huge Success In Durban

Annual seminar held to empower local coaches

The 6^th annual Powerade Performance Academy kicked off in Durban last week. It saw coaches from around KwaZulu-Natal listen to expert performance coaches as part of an interactive session of empowering and enriching lessons for school coaches. Powerade has aimed much of its focus on high school coaches in recognition of their role as primary influencers of the next generation of South Africa’s sporting heroes.

Dick Muir, Simphiwe Dludlu, John McGrath and Sizwe Ndlovu took the coaches through critical aspects of coaching, on and off the field of play, at the KZN Academy.

Dick Muir, Former Springbok rugby player, ex Springbok and Sharks coach and Managing director of the Investec International Rugby Academy SA, spoke about why he is part of the Powerade Academy, “The biggest thing for me sharing knowledge with the coaches. Making them believe there is no such thing as a bad coach, just an ill-informed coach.” he said. “It’s important to invest in coaches because, through them, we are investing in our youth. Developing the knowledge of coaches is important in preparing kids at a young age.” Muir concluded.

Simphiwe Dludlu, SA U-17 Women’s Coach reflected on the teams 2019 U-17 Women’s World Cup experience. She inspired the coaches to build character in their teams. “I find it amazing that we expect players to perform in a certain way when we do not really know their characters and what they are mentally capable of. Everyone is born with a certain character; we need to understand the building blocks of character and how to influence a person’s character for the better.” she said.

Sizwe Ndlovu, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, spoke about what he called the new low. “It is important for people and coaches more especially to understand that when they reach a milestone, instead of saying that this is the highest they can reach, but rather  should look at the milestone and say this is my “new low” and I need to do better than this.”

Ndlovu continued narrating his journey to the coaches about his journey as an athlete and facing setbacks but never giving up.  He further explained how the concept of a new low helped him to surpass his goals.

John McGrath, a former strongman who is now a high performance business coach. McGrath tackled the mental side of preparing sports men and women,. “I was there to talk about “In shifting paradigms it is  about abandoning preconceived ideas that people have about their abilities and about what is conceived as a boundary,” he said.

McGrath illustrated practical examples of breaking boundaries by bending nails, breaking chains, tearing packs of cards and straightening a horseshoe. “These are all metaphors for what you can do and what is possible. I don’t expect all of the coaches to start bending nails but the coaches at the Powerade Performance Academy are there to learn how to make breakthroughs.”

“At Powerade Performance Academy you have coaches that have performed at a world class level and they are talking to coaches from all over South Africa and that is a price worth paying.” he said.

Coaching continues to be an ever-transforming discipline that incorporates innovative techniques and principles to improve performance. The Academy allowed the coaches from the various schools and sporting codes to go back to their respective schools in the spirit of “teach one, teach all’.

To connect the coaches across the country, Powerade has also introduced a Powerade Facebook Community called the Coaches Corner where coaches can interact and share their daily challenges and achievements with their peers. The next legs of Powerade Performance Academies will take place in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

For more information, visit Powerade Facebook page (@PoweradeZA) and #AlwaysForward. 

ENDS

The Limpopo Danone Nations Cup provincial soccer final will take place this weekend

The Limpopo under-12 Danone Nations Cup provincial final will take place at Hoërskool Noordeland on Saturday, 8^th June, kick-off at 10am.  The winner will proceed to the national finals happening at the WJ Clement Stadium in Reiger Park, Gauteng on 15^th June.  The ultimate winner will represent the country at the world finals in Spain in October. 

Vhembe’s Benny’s Sports Academy, the reigning Limpopo champions, who also represented South Africa at the world finals in France in 2016, were knocked out by newcomers, Mahonisi Primary School, who only started competing in the Danone Nations Cup last year.

“What a game we had against Benny’s. They were a strong and skilled team and tough to beat.  The game ended goalless and we went on to win 5 – 4 on penalties,” said an excited coach, Ebby Maluleke, who has no qualifications and coaches because of his love for the game, as opposed to the highly experienced coaches from Benny’s.  “My key player was the goalkeeper, Rotshi Gila.  Benny’s could not get past him.  He was the one that helped take us to the provincials.”

Also new to the provincial final is Mapudithomo Primary School based in Gamothapo, who will be representing the Capricorn district.  “At last we have made the provincial finals,” said coach Lucas Mathole.  “We have been participating in this competition for the past 10 years but getting to the provincials has eluded us.  We have a total of 1 200 pupils at the school, which sounds a lot, but the area is rural and there is little here in terms of assisting in improving the standard of soccer, so I have to rely on my knowledge of the game as I still play club soccer.”

Preparing for the provincials has required the assistance of all the educators at the school, said Mathole.  “I have asked other educators to come and watch us practise to help identify what is needed in terms of upskilling and correcting mistakes. My manager, Mr Tjale, sets up inter-house and friendly games, which has also helped a lot.  As they say, practise makes perfect, and we hope to be on top form on Saturday. My captain and vice-captain, making up my strike force will be my key players on the day.”

Both Mapudithomo and Mahonisi coaches agree that the Danone Nations Cup is very important to all under-12 kids as it keeps them active, teaches life skills such as communication, trust, the importance of teamwork and nutrition.

“The Danone Nations Cup is more than just a soccer tournament,” said Marlinie Kotiah, Head of Corporate Affairs, Danone Southern Africa.  “It is about developing healthy eating habits and this year we launched our new brand positioning and purpose, One Planet One Health, which reflects our belief that the health of humankind and that of the planet are interlinked and both need to be protected and nurtured. Through the Danone Nations Cup we are contributing to bringing this vision to life by promoting the importance of exercise. Further, we are encouraging our young athletes to ‘Play Football, Change the Game’, which is a rallying message to unite children, irrespective of their backgrounds and cultures, and to encourage them to become catalysts for positive change.”

There will be five regional winners competing on Saturday. 

Vhembe:  Mahonisi Primary School

Sekhukhune: Nkadimeng Primary School

Mopani:  Thapola A Nkona (has participated in past provincial finals)

Capricorn: Mapudithomo Primary School

 Waterburg: still awaiting confirmation of their participation

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).

History to be made with girls to be introduced into the 2019 Danone Nations Cup

Since its inception in 2000, Boys teams from all over the world, including South Africa, have been playing in the under-12 Danone Nations Cup competition. Then in 2017, in line with Danone’s principle of inclusive diversity, Group Danone introduced a girl’s tournament to run alongside that of the boys.  The first tournament saw four countries participating, which increased to six in 2018 and in 2019 there will be 8 countries sending a girls teams, including South Africa.

“The inclusion of a girls team this year is a natural progression and growth of our tournament,” explained Marlinie Kotiah, Head of Corporate Affairs, Danone Southern Africa.  “South Africa is one of only a few countries that has been participating in the Danone Nations Cup since its inception. Including girls in our tournament is in line with our new policy of promoting inclusive diversity, openness and changing mentalities.  We want to encourage more children to follow their dreams on and off the field and this includes all youngsters no matter their gender, who they are, or where they come from.”

The world finals will be staged as a double header, including 2018 and 2019, in the country and city where Danone first began, Barcelona, with 20 boys and eight girls teams competing. South Africa, along with Japan, Uruguay and Argentina will be sending girls teams for the first time. “This year is Danone’s centenary and the 20^th year of the Danone Nations Cup so we decided to make it a special occasion,” explained Kotiah.

“Staging a girls only tournament is work in progress,’ said Kotiah. “We will pilot the girl’s tournament in Gauteng in 2019 and the success of this will determine the way forward.  Traditionally there are far fewer girl’s teams playing soccer at this age,.  The decision to start with Gauteng, is based on the larger number of interested teams there. We want the competition to be fair and the way forward will be determined by the number of girls teams that show interest nationally.”

To encourage girls to get interested in soccer, which has been seen as a boys sport, Danone has brought in Amanda Dlamini, ex Banyana player, as the ambassador and role model.  “Amanda has been involved in the tournament in the past and we have brought her in to assist in enticing girls to start playing the sport.  She started playing before the age of 12 and knows the stigma and challenges young girls face.  Ultimately we will be helping to uplift the sport and get more South African girls to play at the highest level or become stadium spectators,” explained Kotiah.

The Gauteng districts have been competing in play-offs over the past week and the nine winners will then compete in the provincial finals at the Germiston Stadium on Friday, 7 June, kicking off at 10am.  The four semifinalists will play at Reiger Park on Saturday, 15^th June at the same venue as the nine boys provincial winners will be competing in the National Finals. 

Over 2 million boys and girls from the 28 countries around the world are expected to participate in the tournament this year.  The final day of games will take place at the home ground of La Liga club, RCD Espanyol de Barcelona, commonly known as Espanyol, on the 12^th October.

Zinédine Zidane has been the honorary ambassador of the Danone Nations Cup since 2003 and continues to support the younger generation and encourage them to play football and believe in their dreams. He uses his unique high-level experience in sport to foster the spirit of teamwork and fair play through a passion for soccer.

“This year also coincides with our new brand positioning and purpose, One Planet One Health, which reflects our belief that the health of humankind and that of the planet are interlinked and both need to be protected and nurtured. Through the Danone Nations Cup we are contributing to bringing this vision to life by promoting the importance of exercise. Further, we are encouraging our young athletes to ‘Play Football, Change the Game’, which is a rallying message to unite children, irrespective of their backgrounds and cultures, and to encourage them to become catalysts for positive change,” said Kotiah.

Danone will also use the tournament as a platform to educate the players on sustainability with a reduced environmental footprint through recycling. “We have a responsibility to teach our football players that they are the future and will become world citizens and they need to take that responsibility seriously as they will play a role in helping the world they live in and they need to care for their environment,” said Kotiah.

The tournament rules are those of 8-a-side games as per the French Football Federation and approved by FIFA. The games are played on half of a full-sized field with each game consisting of one 20-minute half. The final will be an exception with two halves of 12 minutes each.

The Danone Nations Cup is more than a football competition.  “It allows kids from all over the world to discover new places and cultures and promotes values such as respect, diversity, team spirit, trust and fair play. Over the last 20 years many Danone players have gone on to become professional footballers and compete in the highest leagues in the world.  This applies to South Africa too, with the likes of Kermit Erasmus, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Rowan Williams and many more,” concluded Kotiah.

THE ROAD TO BARCELONA

• 2018 and 2019 will be played simultaneously
• 700 players will compete
• 56 teams representing 27 different countries
• 2017 winners:  Boys – Mexico and Girls – Brazil
• Barcelona is symbolic as it was in this city in 1919 that Isaac Carasso created the first Danone yogurt - a simple food, with a simple aim to improve health.

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).