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.
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 20th 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.
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:
|
COUNTRY
|
REPRESENTING TEAM
|
|
Argentina
|
To be confirmed
|
|
England
|
Easington Colliery Girls
Primary School
|
|
France
|
Olympique Lyonnais FC
|
|
Italy
|
SSC Napoli FC
|
|
Japan
|
Chiba Chuo FC
|
|
South Africa
|
Rebonwe Primary School
|
|
Spain
|
RCD Espanyol FC
|
|
Uruguay
|
Nautico FC
|
