The Johannesburg Primary Schools Football Association participates in the Danone Nations Cup soccer competition again

The 2019 Danone Nations Cup is in full swing with five provincial winners identified.  Gauteng will be the last province to host their finals on 7^th June in Germiston.  In preparation for the provincials, schools across the province are participating in gruelling qualifiers.

The Johannesburg Primary Schools Football Association (JPSFA) will once again be holding a tournament with 20 schools registered to compete.  Sacred Heart College in Observatory will host the finals this year on 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd May from 2pm each day.  Entrance is free.  The winner on Wednesday will compete in the Gauteng provincial finals.

St David’s Marist are the current JPSFA champions and will be in action again this year under student coach, Thato Nkabinde, who is an ex pupil and has been coaching at the school for the past five years while studying for his Business Management degree.

“I started coaching the under-12’s this year.  We have only just started our soccer season, which is a disadvantage when entering such a big tournament.  I have selected my squad, but this will need to be trimmed to 12, as per the Danone Nations Cup rules.  Our first training session was this week, so I have not had time to finalise formations and strategies, but I know I have a potentially great team.  I can’t say we will win this year, but the boys will put on an excellent display of football.”

2018 runners up, Heronbridge will also be back in action this year.  Like St David’s, the soccer season has just started, but coach Vele Mbanjwa is blessed with having many of last year’s boys back in action again.  “I have a great team this year.  Our star striker from last year is back in action and three of my players recently received a call up to join the Far North Team.  Our experienced boys are currently educating the youngsters on the enormity of this amazing, well run competitive tournament.”

Vele, who is the physical education and sports educator, has just completed his SAFA D, or introductory licence and the knowledge he has gained will make a difference in preparing the boys mentally, physically, nutritionally and tactically for the forthcoming season. “The course gives us important insight into the development of the youth and how to coach them at different ages.”

A school that could well prove tough to beat is Norwood Primary School.  They competed in the tournament in 2017 but missed out last year.  Coach and manager, Johannes Ledwaba is an experienced youth coach with Belfour Park and has attended many coaching clinics arranged by his club.  One being with international youth coaches from Arsenal Football Club in the United Kingdom.

“Our soccer season has just started but I have an excellent squad this year and feel confident they will put on a great performance.  We have already competed in a couple of friendly matches, so we are ready.  My biggest challenge is that not all the players are able to make every training session due to transport problems.  The Danone Nations Cup is an excellent tournament as it allows the players to prove themselves.  There is a different dynamic when competing on a smaller field with fewer players.  They all need to work hard.  It exposes the hard workers and talented players.  It is exciting!

The ultimate JPSFA winner will go on to compete in the Gauteng provincial final in Germiston with the champions there going on to represent the province in the national finals taking place at Reiger Park on Saturday, 15^th June.

The national winner will join 19 other countries at the world finals taking place in Spain.  The teams will play their final match at the RCDE Stadium (home of La Liga club, Espanyol) in Barcelona, on 12^th October. 

PARTICIPARTING SCHOOLS:

Blairgowrie Primary School

Bryneven Primary School

Crawford College Fourways

Crawford College Sandton

Deutsche Internationale Schule

Glenhazel Primary School

Greenside Primary School

HA Jack Primary School

Heronbridge College

Houghton Primary School

Hurley Primary School

Maryvale College

Northwest Christian School

Norwood Primary School

Orange Grove Primary School

Reddam House, Bedfordview

Rembrandt Park School

Sacred Heart College

St Davids Marist

The Kings School Robinhills

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).

Gauteng is the last province to host their Danone Nations Cup finals happening this weekend at Sacred heart College.

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The school that will represent Gauteng at the under-12 Danone Nations Cup national soccer finals will be known on Saturday, 25^th August, at Sacred Heart College in Observatory, Johannesburg, the venue for the last provincial final of the tournament.  There will be nine schools competing for the spot in the nationals.

There was great excitement at Benoni’s Zamukhanyo Primary School on the weekend when they qualified for the provincials and will be one of the Ekurhuleni teams in action. What makes it even more amazing, explains the coach, Sibonelo Mfeka, is the fact that the school is participating in the Danone Nations Cup for the first time.  He entered the school this year after being encouraged to do so by the Department of Basic Education.

“We are a no fee school serving a number of townships, informal settlements and rural areas around Ekurhuleni and our facilities are limited so to get this far is exceptional and I must give credit to the commitment of my players,” said Mfeka.

Mfeka has no coaching qualification and is a teacher at the school. “The district level was tough, particularly the game against Michael Mkhwanazi primary,” he said. “They were an excellent team, but we finished top of the log to go through to the next round of the competition.”

Striker, Siyabonga Msimango who plays for Highlands Park, along with 2 other boys is going to be a key player for the team at the nationals,” Mfeka believes. “He also helps out with training by preparing drills and is a good leader.”

The other school that will represent Ekurhuleni is based in Katlehong.  Thembelethu Primary School will be competing in the provincial finals for the second year in succession under coach, Miss Maletlotlo Maphuthuma. 

Maphuthuma is hoping her team shines this year and makes it to the national finals.  “I believe there is a female coach from Rustenburg that will be at the national finals and, being women’s month, it would be really apt if there were two of the nine teams coached by women!”

Her dream could well come true considering the quality of her players which includes two boys that are in the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club’s development structures.  “My two defenders play for the club’s under-13 team.  Sundowns has excellent development coaches and these two boys bring with them a wealth of knowledge.  They help me with drills as well as skills transfer such as dribbling and passing. We could well surprise everyone on Saturday.  The other coaches must underestimate us at their own peril.”

The school has produced a professional player in Thela Ngobeni, who is currently a goalkeeper at Mamelodi Sundown.  Due to their success on the football field the school has earned the nickname ”obvious”.

St David’s Marist Inanda will go onto the field on Saturday as newcomers to the provincials, representing the Johannesburg Primary Schools Football Association. Team manager, Thami Nkabinde will be approaching the provincials cautiously.

“All the teams that get to the provincials will have been through gruelling qualifiers and it will not be easy,” he said. “Our boys are currently on holiday, but we will be having three practice sessions this week to make sure the boys are ready. I have told them to keep fit – not to sit at the computer and TV - but to go for walks, runs, practice by themselves and to drink plenty of water cutting down on junk food. And to stick to NutriDay yoghurt as a healthy snack.”

The majority of St David’s players also compete at club level, the majority for Pirates in Greenside. “The season at school is very short which does not give them enough time to get ready on their own. We teach the boys the basics and get them to have fun but at club level it is taken more seriously,” Nkabinde said.

He was with the team last year when they were under-11 and has progressed with them this year. Their coach is a student who has no formal qualifications but a passion for the game, and the boys have responded well to him.

The aim of the Danone Nations Cup is to encourage youngsters to believe in their dreams and bring about positive social change. Through sport children can learn important life lesson about responsibility, dedication, hard work and relying on others. The competition promotes teamwork and sharing, and teaches the players to think on the run.

Nutrition is very important for kids at this age, and Danone’s aim is also to teach them to eat properly. The calcium found in dairy products helps to build strong bones.

 

Get into Action, Get into KFC Mini-Cricket

KFC launched its third year of involvement in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme at a festival held at Sacred Heart College, Observatory with 250 kids getting active on the field. KFC partnered with Cricket South Africa (CSA) in 2010 with the aim of reaching as many children as possible between the ages of 3 and 13 to promote an active and balanced lifestyle.

The focus thisseason will be the KFC Mini-Cricket kids ambassador search which will get kids encouraging other kids to join the programme and for kids already in the programme to play more frequently. Last year the KFC Mini-Cricket programme grew from 83 000 kids to over 100 000 kids playing in the programme.“This season we will ensure that we maintain and improve the quality of cricket played by the children and will continue to encourage enrolment. A main focus for this season will be the growth of KFC Mini-Cricket into rural communities.”Niels Momberg, Youth Cricket Manager at CSA.

The KFC Mini-Cricket kids ambassador search will take place at the 16 provincial festivals with live audition areas where the most charismatic and energetic children will be chosen to be ambassadors for the programme.  These ambassadors will work with KFC’s Mini-Cricket ambassador AB de Villiers to get more kids playing cricket.

AB De Villiers has been an ambassador of KFC Mini-Cricket since 2010 and is an inspiration to the kids involved.  “Everyone needs an introduction into a particular sport and we couldn’t ask for a better way than to be involved in KFC Mini-Cricket. I believe this season will entice even more kids into the programme and I bet it will unearth some characters as ambassadors.  I will have to work hard to keep my position as the ambassador.”

Chief Marketing Officer of KFC, Dave Timm, said of the new campaign:  “We are immensely proud of our involvement with KFC Mini-Cricket and what we have achieved to date and this season will be even more entertaining for the kids.  KFC encourages active and balanced lifestyles for children and each season we look at ensuring that the kids have fun outdoors.”

Former Proteas player Neil McKenzie and his wife Kerry,together with their two kids attended the launch in support of the programme.  “Cricket has had a major and wonderful impact on my life, and will continue to do so and both Kerry and I want our kids to develop a love for the game as early as possible.  Who knows, perhaps my son and daughter will one day be professionals like their father and grand-father!”

The 2012/13 KFC Mini-Cricket season promises to be an unforgettable one and both KFC and CSA have committed to continuing to build the programme well into the future.