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Showing posts with label Danone Nations Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danone Nations Cup. Show all posts
Lila Bruk
BSC in Molecular and Cell Biology (UCT)
BSC Medical (Honours) in Nutrition and
Dietetics (UCT)
Masters in Nutritional Sciences
(Stellenbosch)
Manuka Translational Genomics
EatFit
FODMAP approved dietitian
SAMLA Certificate in Foundations of
Medico-Legal Practice
National Nutrition and National Obesity Week 2020 - Speaker organized by DanUp with a focus on assisting coaches from all over the world with nutrition programs for their kids.
"Good Nutrition for good immunity"
She spoke about about nutrition and what children,
coaches and parents can do to get a basic cost
effective nutrition plan for kids.
School sport around the world has changed overnight due to the coronavirus and has become more efficient and focused to allow all kids not matter their ability to express themselves the best that they can be on the sporting field.
As a coach you need to stay ahead of the curve and keep yourself updated with all the new training tips and methodologies. We enable you to do this through our fortnightly webinars with a generic focus on sport.
Good nutrition is key to unlocking
the bodies potential
Good nutrition as a child can
directly contribute to performance in the board room or on the sports field as
an adult
South African corporates and
government have been made aware of the alarming statistics that emerged in the
recent HAKSA report (compiled by a number of South African universities) which
identified that; one in five South African children skip breakfast, less than
half consume the recommended intake of vegetables and fruit and their intake of
key vitamins and minerals is less than 67% of what is recommended. This has a
devastating effect on the growth (physical and mental) of our children and
Danone launched their 2020 Day One campaign to coincide with the start of the
2020 school year. This is now going national in a drive to improve the
status quo by educating parents and caregivers on the benefits of good
nutrition and how it impacts on the development of children, whether in the
classroom or on the sportsfield.
Education is a global equaliser and
everyone in a child’s life, be it an educator, parent or caregiver, plays a
part in ensuring that South Africans can compete anywhere in the world, and
this all starts from birth. There is a window of opportunity (the first
1000 days) to ensure that children receive adequate nutrition to ensure that
areas of growth and maturity are met at the right time to meet important
milestones.
“Our Day One with Danone campaign is
educational and empowers parents and children to make correct food choices to
improve nutrition and wellbeing,” said Leanne Keizer, Scientific and Regulatory
Affairs Manager, Danone Southern Africa. “A healthy eating plan, which means
consuming the correct amounts of vitamins and minerals, is of paramount
importance in every aspect of a child’s life including building strength,
promoting physical fitness, giving energy for optimal concentration and brain
development. To compete globally, whether in the boardroom or on the
sports field, South Africans must match their international counterparts
thereby creating equal opportunities and, what many parents are not aware, this
all starts with good nutrition in our first years.
Day One by Danone also demonstrates
that healthy eating is affordable. “There are five simple steps to
healthy eating that we are promoting through our campaign,” said Keizer.
“Eat breakfast every day; eat more fruit and vegetables; have milk, maas or
yoghurt every day; drink more water; and exercise. We teach kids these five
steps through play so they will retain the information and it creates
longevity. 2020 is of particular importance as it fits into our global One
Planet One Health vision, which reflects our belief that the health of people
and that of the planet are interlinked and both need to be protected and
nurtured.”
“It’s an unfortunate fact that we
only recognise the symptoms of bad eating when it is too late,” said Keizer.
“Snacks form an important element of healthy eating and we encourage children
to select a fruit instead of a sweet or packet of crisps. Our NutriDay
yoghurts, which are high in protein, have been made with carefully
selected added nutrients known to be lacking in the diets of South African
children (Vitamins A, B, D, E) and are the only yoghurts in South Africa that
are a source of Zinc, essential in building a healthy immune system, growth and
cognitive development. These additions fuel a child’s potential to
thrive. We cannot stress enough the importance of drinking water, eating
vegetables and fruit and including milk, yoghurt or maas in a child’s diet.”
Exercise is key to good health.
“Our Danone Nations Cup, the biggest soccer tournament in the world for
children between the ages of 10 and 12 years old, has enabled us to talk to over
40 million kids around the world since its inception in 2000. We use the
biggest sport in the world to promote the importance of exercise and encourage
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 Keizer.
To ensure continuity, Danone is
constantly loading nutritional tips, advice and recipes onto the Danone
website: www.danone.co.za to assist parents and caregivers.
It seems a lifetime ago that Rebonwe coach,
Emmanuel Gogela, heard there was going to be a Danone Nations Cup girls
tournament this year. Like most schools, he didn’t have many girls at
under-12 level, and those he had competed together with the boys. But
this didn’t stop him and immediately recruited more girls and put a team
together and entered the tournament.
Six month later and his team had not only
performed well, they had won the trip of a lifetime – to compete in the world
finals taking place in Barcelona between 10th and 12th
October.
To help prepare the girls for the world stage, Danone Southern Africa
enlisted the help of acclaimed development coach, SIBUSISO NTSINDE. Sibusiso holds a CAF C Licence and a Coerver Youth Diploma. He attended
a Rene Meulensteen Dutch Symposium course as well as a course held by the KNVB
in the Netherlands. Recently he won the Future Champs Tournament with the
Bidvest Wits under-17 team.
“It’s such a pleasure to be
able to assist these young aspiring soccer players,” said Ntsinde. “It’s
very different coaching girls as opposed to boys. Firstly, girls listen
better! Secondly, they are focused and quick learners. I cannot believe
the difference in their performance after 2 weeks with me. Our first task
was to teach the basics of the game as many of the girls have not been playing
for long. They also had to get used to me and the way I coach and to the
different techniques and tactics. Then followed the task of tweaking some
of their positions on the field to match their strengths.”
The world finals will not be
easy, admits Ntsinde. “I have seen who their competition will be and most
countries will be represented by clubs such as Napoli and Espanyol, whose
players have been playing the game since they were 5 or 6 and they will be the
best players at this level at their respective clubs, whereas our girls play
for the love of the game. I love every day that I spend with these girls
and I enjoy seeing their enthusiasm to want to improve and learn. I will
do my best to prepare them well. I can see they are getting the concepts,
but it is not easy to cram so much so quickly.”
Spain will be a football lesson
for the girls, Ntsinde believes. “They will see teams that are at another
level and using different techniques, which will give them something to aspire
to. They must not look down on themselves but rise and look where they
can be. My message to them is to go out there and represent us the best
way possible. They should remember that they are the best in the country and,
no matter what, they have gone out and fought a battle to get to where they are
now. I can’t wait to see them on their return. We will evaluate
what they learnt and look at where to go next and what do they want to do on
the football field in the future.”
Accompanying Rebonwe Primary in
Spain will be Nomlinganiselo from the Western Cape (2018 winners) and
Muzuvukile from KZN (2019 boys winners). The teams leave for Barcelona on
Monday, 7th October and will have a couple of days to acclimatise
prior to the commencement of the tournament on 10th October.
On the final day, 12TH October, the teams will play their final match at the home ground of La Liga club,
RCD Espanyol de Barcelona, commonly known as Espanyol.
Also travelling with the team
will be Amanda Dlamini, ex Banyana Banyana captain. She will be with the
girls every step of the way, encouraging them, giving advice as well as
celebrating and motivating them.
“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 Mkhize.
The
Danone Nations Cup boys world finals kick-off in Spain on 10September
and South Africa’s Muzuvukile Primary School from Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal,
will be one of only a handful of countries among the 20 competing that will be
represented by a school as the rest are all club teams. So, Danone Southern
Africa has brought in a top South African coach, Scelo Qwaba, to assist Muzuvukile
in their preparations.
Qwaba
is currently a coach at the University of Zululand and his under-17 team
recently won a national tournament. He has a CAF A Coaching License and is also
a coach instructor and therefore well equipped to assist the school.
Qwaba
will go through to the school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to run their training
sessions, with the possibility of increasing the number of days per week closer
to the date of their departure for Barcelona.
“We
know the competition will be tough in Barcelona,” said Muzuvukile coach, Xolani
Mokoba. “Our boys are usually the smallest at tournaments like these, so
we are preparing the boys to play a carpet style of football as opposed to an
aerial game. It’s a change to our style of football and the boys seem to have
adapted well. However, extra training from a professional coach is exactly what
we need. I do not have any coaching qualifications and would like to learn from
Qwaba.”
The
opportunity to play in Barcelona is a chance of a lifetime for many of the
boys, believes Mokoba and he wants them to remember it as successful on the
field as well as socially and culturally. “The boys will always reflect
back on this trip and I want them to be fond memories of fun, meeting people
from different parts of the world and of great importance it must be a massive
learning curve. Our manager has been on Facebook looking at what the other
countries are doing and how they are preparing. My job is to get them as ready
physically and mentally as possible to tackle whatever comes our way in each
game.”
Muzuvukile
has had great support from the local community. “The Richards Bay football club
visited us and has donated balls and bibs to help us prepare,” Mokoba said. “We
have also had great support from the Mseleni clinic. The nurses visited
the boys, conducting medical examinations and educating them about proper
nutrition leading up to our departure. They will be back every two weeks to
monitor the boys' health and fitness. All this helps to ensure that we have done
the best training we can.”
The first training session with Qwaba will be on
Tuesday 27th August. “Facing club teams will be tough, but not
impossible,” said Masi Mkhize, Communications Manager, Danone Southern Africa.
“So, Danone Southern Africa decided to give them a helping hand to get the boys
ready. The team representing Spain at the 2019 world finals will be FC
Barcelona’s under-12s, for example. There’s no doubt that the kids will learn a
lot from playing against such opposition, but our schools going to Spain are
coached by teachers with no soccer qualifications and we would like to help
them. We have brought in expert assistance for all the teams, Muzuvukile and
Nomlinganiselo (2018 winners from Western Cape) as well as our girls team,
Rebonwe (Gauteng).”
The teams leave for Barcelona on Monday, 7th
October and will have a couple of days to acclimatise prior to the commencement
of the tournament on 10th October.
“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 Mkhize.
Norwegian
football sensation, Ada Hegerberg, first-ever female “Ballon d’Or” winner,
partners with the Danone Nations Cup.
Faithful
to her beliefs and values, namely in favor of gender equality, Ada Hegerberg
joins an esteemed roster of ambassadors including Zinedine Zidane, South
Africa’s ex Banyana Banyana player, Amanda Dlamini and Carles Puyol, with a
common mission to prove that sport is a force for positive societal change.
The
Danone Nations Cup, the largest U-12 football tournament in the world, will
host its 2019 world finals between the 10th and 12th
October. Games on the final day will be played at the RCDE Stadium in
Barcelona, Spain.
The
Danone Nations Cup is proud to announce that Ada Hegerberg, widely recognized
as one of the best female football players, will join the movement as a global
ambassador and advisor. Bringing her invaluable experience on and off the
pitch, Hegerberg will support this unique event aimed at empowering young
athletes to shape the society they live in and showcasing how sport can truly
be a force for positive change. Hegerberg and The Danone Nations Cup join
forces to instill values of equality, respect, and openness among the youth
participating in the event.
23
years of age, Ada Hegerberg, has taken the global stage by storm through her
perseverance, excellence, respect for others and determination to shed a light
on women’s football. Hegerberg began her career playing for NM Cuppen in 2012
and was selected for the Norwegian national team in 2013. Since then, her
career took off after her club, Olympique Lyonnais, won the Champions League
four years in a row. A historic milestone in her career, Hegerberg was awarded
the first women’s “Ballon d’Or” in 2018, in addition to the prestigious “BBC
Footballer of the Year” award in 2017 and 2019.
“For
me, playing football isn’t just about scoring goals, it’s about the values,
respect, fairplay, and commitment that go into the entire process. This year’s
Women’s World Cup has received global fanfare and recognition. I’ve partnered
with the Danone Nations Cup to provide a longer-term platform and opportunity
for girls and boys around the world to play football and experience the
life-changing moments that sport can bring. I’ve been fortunate enough to
embark on a journey that has completely changed my life, largely thanks to the
power of football and I want to ensure that, together with the Danone Nations
Cup, we create an ongoing legacy where girls and boys feel comfortable and
empowered to play football and change the game!” said Ada Hegerberg.
The
Danone Nations Cup truly believes that by playing football, kids can change
their perceptions of, and contribute to a better, stronger society. One of the
cornerstones of this ambition for change is a strong message in favor of gender
equality. While the Danone Nations Cup has always been open to children of all
nationalities, backgrounds, and genders, Danone has gone a step further in
encouraging girls to partake by launching an all-girls’ tournament in 2017.
This year alone, the love for football has brought together over 36,000 girls
from 12 countries. The world finals in 2019 will see 8 countries sending female
teams including Argentina, England, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Uruguay and
Rebonwe Primary School from Ivory Park Gauteng will represent South Africa.
The
South African boys teams that will be travelling to Barcelona are 2018 winners,
Nomlinganiselo Primary from Crossroads, Western Cape and Muzuvukile Primary
from Richards Bay, KZN.
Rebonwe Primary School from Ivory
Park, the first girls team from South Africa to compete in the world finals, will
be facing stiff opposition in Barcelona in October. But that does not
worry them, said Lilian Mabasa, team manager and teacher at the school who will
be travelling with the girls.
The Danone Nations Cup girls
world final will comprise eight countries. All but Argentina have
completed their domestic competitions to determine their representation.
England and South Africa are the only countries to be sending a school team,
whereas the others ran club competitions to find their winner.
RDC Espanyol’s under-12
development team will be representing Spain. Not only will they be
playing in their own country, but Spain is RDC Espanyol’s under
12 will have home ground advantage. RDC Espanyol FC, but the team
representing the country is from RCD Espanyol FC, who will play their final match on home soil on 12th
October.
The Rebonwe Primary School girls
see this as a challenge and learning curve, said Mabasa. The coach has
managed to acquire footage of some of the teams in action, which they will
review and use as a yard stick against which they will prepare their build up
strategy.
The first step in preparing the
Rebonwe girls for this experience of a lifetime is to improve their fitness
level. “Our day starts at 6.45am with a gym session to ensure the players are
in peak physical condition when we travel,” said Mabasa. “After school
it’s onto the soccer field to sharpen their tactical and technical
skills. Fortunately, most of the girls live close by and getting to and
from school is not a problem. We have the backing of their families which
is a great bonus. Parent support is of the utmost importance in preparing
the girls.”
Mabasa has always loved soccer
and she still competes for the ladies team in her home town of Giyani,
Limpopo. She joined the school management team three years ago. “When we
started incorporating the girls into the teams in the various age groups I
could see they were getting bullied. This inspired me to offer my
services as the manager to protect them and to teach the boys about the
importance of the inclusion of girls, and to show them that girls can play as
well, if not better than them. When we heard that the Danone Nations Cup
was forming on a girls only tournament, we formed our own team and look where
we are – going to Barcelona – whereas the boys team was knocked out in the
early round of the competition.”
Since winning the tip to
Barcelona a lot has changed for the girls. “I can already see that their
confidence has improved,” said Mabasa. “From being laughed at for taking up
soccer they are now respected, and the entire school is making them feel very
special. That’s good for morale, but they must also realise that
competing in the world finals is very different from playing at home. They will
be up against soccer academies at the world finals. For example, the team
from Italy is the SSC Napoli academy team. They eat and sleep soccer and,
looking at videos, we can also see that most of the girls are far taller than
ours.”
Coming from an informal
settlement and getting the opportunity to go to Barcelona to stay in a world
class hotel is daunting for the kids, admits Mabasa, so she is focusing on the
psychology of the players. “I come from a very poor background myself,”
she said. “I often went barefoot to school, so I know what some of these girls
are going through and I encourage them to keep believing and striving for the
best. Thankfully Danone and our kit sponsors, Mr Price Sport, will be
kitting the children out with enough clothing to wear something new every
day. That’s of great help and the players will treasure whatever they
receive.”
The three
South African teams travelling to Spain, Nomlinganiselo (Western Cape),
Muzuvukile (KAN) and Rebonwe will leave on 7th October and the games
will take place in Barcelona between 10th and 12th
October.
The eight
girls teams will be divided into two groups and play a league with the top
teams competing in the final match.
“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.
Rebonwe Primary School will be accompanied to
Spain by Nomlinganiselo Primary from the Western Cape (2018 boys winners) and
Muzuvukile Primary from KZN (2019 boys winners). Games will take place
from 10th to 12th October.
The countries that will be competing
in the girls tournament are:
