In Tune with Coaching discusses SuperSport’s Schools streaming app.

 

Start your month on a thrilling and informative note as the exciting In Tune with Coaching live webinar series returns and will focus on the SuperSport Schools app and how it can benefits school’s sport.

The latest edition will take place this Thursday, 03 June 2021 between 18h00-19h00 (CAT).  Register here: https://bit.ly/3vu4TEW and be a part of the webinar for FREE.

This week’s topic will be focused on Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming services; particularly the SuperSport School’s app service which has joined the current OTT streaming offerings from Pitchvision and DigiTV SA.

The demand of school sports streaming services has steadily been on the rise and appetite has expanded over the past 12 months largely due to Covid 19 pandemic restrictions which prevent spectators from watching school’s sports live on the ground.

The In Tune with Coaching platform is eager to lace you up with insight from some of the brightest minds in SA OTT broadcasting, featuring SuperSport’s Senior Commercial Manager, Rendani Ramovha.

Host and organizer, Belluigi is thrilled to be hosting the series with the next episode exploring the exciting topic of OTT Services and their potential impact on school’s sport. 

“We have got an exciting one hour where we will tap into the mind of one of the leaders in sport broadcasting who is overseeing the growth of the SuperSport Schools app,” he said. 

“I believe OTT is the way to go in the future of school’s sport and the benefits of these services are immense, it will be interesting to hear more of the benefits of these platforms and what goes behind setting this service.”  Belluigi added. 

The series, hosted by Intune Communications and Entertainment Director, Shawn Belluigi, began during the first lockdown last year and is aimed at empowering leaders in sport through conversations with industry leaders from different codes and disciplines.

Previous talking points addressed include the importance of playing multiple sports at school, the glaring differences in our socioeconomic makeup in sport and “the science to the art of coaching”. 

The recordings of the archived webinars can be located on Intune Communications’ YouTube Page (https://bit.ly/2RPeMyz). 

 

 

 

About guest, Rendani Ramovha:

Ramovha is the Senior Commercial Manager at SuperSport. He was appointed to the position in January 2021, and prior to that led the Sports Marketing division of Multichoice Africa Holdings. He holds vast expertise and understanding of the marketing and sales sectors with experience working across the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry before growing his footprint in sport. He graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a Masters in Marketing specialising in Strategic Marketing and Brand Leadership, and also holds a ‘Strategic Leadership’ certificate from the GIBS Business School. He is passionate about sport and the advancement of it, having played semi-pro rugby in the Varsity Cup and in Wales for a club stint. He is a leader with vision and purpose supported by strong planning and project management skills

The In Tune with Coaching live webinar series is set to take place bi-weekly on Thursdays from 18h00-19h00. A reminder of how you can register for FREE here:https://bit.ly/3uWlr8g. 

 

Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup player, Thuto Mphahlele, debutes for Supersport United

Thuto Mphahlele, captain of the victorious School of Excellence team in the 2012 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, made his professional soccer debut recently when he played for SuperSport United against the visiting Manchester City team.

He feels it is an honour to be playing for SuperSport. “So far I have played one game for the team, it was against Manchester City and we won 2-0.  I was nervous and excited at the same time; I could not believe that I was playing against a renowned International soccer team. That’s where I see myself in the years to come, playing for an International team.”With the PSL League starting this weekend, judging by his performance in the pre-season build up, he could well be in line for the PSL Rookie of the Year.

The 19 year-old defender comes from a soccer-loving family.  His father, Kgosi Mphahlele, was a soccer player, he used to play for a local team in Mahikeng and Thuto started taking an interest in the game at the age of 9 years, playing in the yard around the house, and for his school, Sol Plaatje Primary School.

He started at the School Of Excellence at the age of 12 as he wanted to attend a sports academy because he knew his soccer career would be developed and taken care of there.

In 2007 he attended trials at the SuperSport Tottenham Hotspur Development Academy, and although he wasn’t accepted, he never gave up on that dream. “In 2011 I went back for trials again and this time around I got accepted and since then I have been playing for their development team,” he said. “Then in January 2013 I got signed up by Supersport United FC, which has always been my dream.”

Thuto was part of the School of Excellence team in the Sanlam Kay Motsepe competition for five years from 2008 to 2012. The highlight was undoubtedly last year when they won the competition, which meant they earned the school R1.1 million. “It was a huge achievement for us as a team and for the school.  Knowing that I led the team to victory as captain was special to me.”

Two of his team mates are also now playing professional soccer - Stanley Muishond, who is at Vasco Da Gama FC and Tshepo Mabuya who also plays for SuperSport United. “I think that the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is very important because the players get to be seen by scouts from the PSL teams,” Thuto says. “If it was not for the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, I would not be where I am today. I admire Mr Motsepe for his dedication to soccer development.”

Thuto has been back to his old school where he gave a talk to the current players. “I told them to love and respect the game of soccer, if they ever make it big they should always remain content and respectful.”

Although his dream is to be a professional player, Thuto understands the importance of getting a qualification as well. “I am currently studying Accountancy through Unisa, I am a firm believer in education and my father is quite strict when it comes to education.  At the moment I am enjoying my time at SuperSport and I look forward to playing more games for the team.”

ends

About the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup:

·       The tournament is run under the auspices of the South Africa Football Association (SASFA)

   Named after prominent businessman Patrice Motsepe’s late mother, the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup offers the biggest prize money at school level in Africa (R3.4 million in total). 

·       The sponsors are:  Sanlam, the Motsepe Foundation and the Sanlam Ubuntu-Botho Community Development Trust.

·       The primary objective of the tournament is to revive the culture of school football amongst students between the age of 16 and 19 years old.

·       The tournament also gives players the opportunity to showcase their skills to soccer scouts with the talented players being recruited into development structures to be nurtured and shaped into professional players.

HASHIM AMLA HOSTS A COACHING SESSION AT ANKERVAS PRIMARY SCHOOL.

When you think of Hashim Amla, you naturally think of the spearhead of the Proteas batting line-up. A man who humbled the English with his blistering stroke play, a man who frequently heads up the ICC batting world rankings, and a man who is adored in cricketing circles local and abroad.

Growing up though, young Hashim was no different to the over 100 000 kids currently involved in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme, cutting their cricketing teeth at the KFC Mini-Cricket level so to speak. It is only fitting then, that he should return to it again in hosting a KFC Mini-Cricket Coaching Session at Ankervas Primary School, in Uitenhague on Thursday. 

KFC ran a competition last year on SuperSport during the IPL whereby entrants could win one of six exclusive coaching sessions with a member of the Proteas team. Gert Swartz, a teacher at Ankervas Primary, was one of the lucky winners and immediately nominated the kids he coaches to receive the prize with Hashim Amla.

“These children are from disadvantaged backgrounds and most of them are orphans who are now being raised by relatives who don’t always make the best role models. I chose the school because I believe the visit will restore hope in these kids as well as a love for the sport altogether”, said Gert on the reasons behind his prize nomination.

While studying Human Movements Science at the University of North West, Gert was tasked to choose four sports to coach. One of them was cricket, and more specifically cricket coaching for kids from the ages of 7 to 9 years.

When asked about the boys’ reaction to the news, Gert had this to say; “Everyone at the school could not believe that we could pull off something this major. The kids were even training so that they could be fit and ready to be on the same field with this international sporting hero.”

A select group of youngsters from Ankervas got to participate in a 50 minute session made up of four cricket stations, with Hashim coaching from one of them. After that the Proteas batsman shared a few inspirational words with the kids, who each got to spend some time with the star player.

“It feels like so long ago since I was in the mini-cricket programme, but being here today quickly made me remember growing up and the fun I used to have learning the game. It’s so great that KFC Mini-Cricket offers the kids this experience, and it’s really great to see so many of them getting active with it around the country each year,” said Hashim after his experience with the kids of Ankervas Primary School.

This latest KFC Coaching Session is yet another fine example of how getting kids active and kids doing what they love leads to memorable experiences. By bringing kids closer to the game, and indeed their cricketing heroes, KFC Mini-Cricket is committed to creating an active lifestyle for the youth, and one that will no doubt enrich all those that are involved.

Football Development in South Africa took centre stage in Gauteng this past weekend

Johannesburg Secondary School will be the Gauteng representative at the under-15 COPA Coca-Cola National Finals in Tshwane in early July.

Johannesburg Secondary beat Clapham High School 2-0 in the final of the Gauteng provincial playoffs at the Saul Tsotetsi Sports Grounds in Sebokeng on Saturday.

2012 is the first year that COPA Coca-Cola will be an Under 15 tournament and is run under the auspices of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) with over 1 000 schools from around South Africa competing.

Johannesburg Secondary School is the education partner to the Orlando Pirates Youth Academy, while Clapham had players from the Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy in its ranks.

The presence of four Academy teams out of the eight participating in the Gauteng provincials - Highlands North Boys’ High School (JazzyQueen’s African Sport Academy) and Rosina Sedibane High School (SuperSport United) are the other two – indicates that the PSL Clubs are on a mission to boost their squads with home grown talent.

“It is the way forward,” said Themba Ngwenya, Mamelodi Sundowns scout. “The Sundowns philosophy is to look for local talent at an early age and get them into our academy to teach them the Sundowns way which is the 4-3-3 format and attacking football. Our club owner, Mr Motsepe, is also doing all he can to boost the Tshwane communities.”

Isaac Shai, the Clapham and Sundowns Academy coach was pleased with the way the day went. “We went down to a mightier opponent, but I am happy with my team. We only enrolled our players into Clapham earlier this year and we have done exceptionally well in just a few months,” he said.

I am especially pleased with the way the players approached each game. They kept their composure and never forgot the game plan.”

Johannesburg Secondary School had a big advantage: 13 of the 17 players in their squad have been together since primary school. As a team, they won a 40 nation international tournament at the Orlando Stadium back in 2009.

Rosina Sedibane suffered a setback earlier in the day when their key midfielder, OrbadjaMaluleka fell and broke his wrist so had to be taken to hospital. “It is a pity as he is our key ball supplier to the strikers,” said their coach, Reginald Patterson. “I did have back up in Zama Mzondwana, also a midfielder whose special talent is his ability to read opponents. But it was not our day and all the best to Johannesburg Secondary School.”

Craig Van Niekerk, Coca-Cola South Africa Marketing Asset Manager explains the change of age group:  “The change is in line with COPA Coca-Cola’s global strategy. The Coca-Cola Company backs football at the highest level, the FIFA World Cup™ and it is the company policy to complement this by making a direct contribution towards strengthening the sport at grassroots level through tournaments such as COPA Coca-Cola, and globally the tournament is run as an Under-15 event.  Coca-Cola South Africa also backs Club football through the Premier Soccer League (PSL).”

“But COPA Coca-Cola is not just about winning, but respecting diversity,” explains Donnay Carter, Coca-Cola South Africa Brand Manager.  “It’s about living a healthy and active lifestyle, forging friendships with those from vastly different backgrounds, harnessing the extraordinary power that football has to unite different cultures and backgrounds to bring people together and living for a difference. ”

GUATENG FINAL RESULTS

Pool A - Clapham 3 (Lovers Malatsi, Avuyile Makhudu, Tepiso Mbongwa) Highlands North 0; ThomasMofolo 1 (Tshediso Monamadi) BasaTutorial Institute 0; Clapham 1 (AvuyileMakhudu) Thomas Mofolo 1 (TshedisoMonamadi); Highlands North 3 (Warren Segage3) Basa 0; Clapham 8 (Avuyile Makhudu(3), Lovers Malatsi (3), Sizwe Chuene, Thomas Njajubana) Basa 0; Thomas Mofolo 5 (Tshediso Monanadi (4) Thabo Modubu ) Highlands North 1 (Warren Segage).

Pool B - Johannesburg 3 (Sibusiso Damini, Thula Tabethe, Sizwe Twala) Zitikeni 1 (Mongezi Sicna); Rosina Sedibane 6 (Banjatwa Hendrik (3), Mabange Sizwe (2), Thuto Marafe) EdendalePeps 1(Kagiso Maredi); Johannesburg 8 (Bonolo Sieeco, Sizwe Twala (2), Sibusiso Dlamini (2), Sibusiso Sako, Phila Vela, DanisileMqwathi), Edendale Peps 0; Rosina Sedibane 3 (OfentseMotjaana (2), Tshegofatso Pampati) Edendale Peps 1 (Kagiso Maredi); Johannesburg 1 (Sizwe Twala) Rosina Sedibane 0); Zitikeni 3 (Siche Mongezi, Tebogo Thepe, Sifiso Mtshwei ) Edendale 1(Ofentse Makhatho);

Final- Johannesburg 2 (ThulaThabethe, Mbongiseni Mazibuko) Clapham 0.

About COPA Coca-Cola:

·         Copa Coca-Cola is run under the auspices of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA)

·         Coca-Cola started sponsoring Coca-Cola Football Stars in 2005.

·         Between 2005 and 2008 a TV reality element was introduced aimed at finding the top 18 players who would go on to compete internationally.  To keep interests high an elimination process was brought in to reduce players from approximately 70 down to 18 and the public witnessed the trials and tribulations that went into becoming a top football player.

·         In 2009 and 2010 the name changed to bring the tournament in line with Coca-Cola’s global youth strategy to COPA Coca-Cola.  The aim of the tournament remained the same i.e. to look for the top Under-19 school in the country and find the top 18 players who then competed against approximately 13 other African schools in the Copa Coca-Cola finals. 

·         In 2012 COPA Coca-Cola became an Under 15 tournament to align with the Copa Coca-Cola globally. 

·         The tournament starts off at Cluster level (this level is now complete as it happened in January)

·         Regional winners then compete in the Provincial Finals

·         Provincial winners then compete in the National Finals taking place from the 3^rd – 7^th July.

GAUTENG COPA COCA-COLA PROVINCIAL FINAL WILL SEE SOME PAST WINNERS AND ONE NEW ONE COMPETING

The list of qualifiers for the National Finals in the under-15 COPA Coca-Cola football competition is starting to take shape, and it’s Gauteng’s turn this weekend to determine their participating school.

The eight Gauteng regional winning schools will gather at the Saul Tsotetsi Grounds in Sebokeng on Saturday. They will play pool matches in two sections, followed by playoffs with the action kicking-off at 9am and entrance is free.

The schools that will be in action are a who’s who of the high quality footballing schools in the province as many house players from some of the PSL Club academies.

Rosina Sedibane-Modiba High School from the Tshwane South Region is one that teaches the players from SuperSport United’s development programme, and has won provincial and national titles at various age group levels over the years, although they have only reached the provincial playoffs of COPA Coca-Cola in the past two years, finishing second last year. 

The school is determined to go one better this time around. “It’s always an educational and an inspiring experience to play in COPA Coca-Cola,” says team manager, Sanjay Baktawa. “The players always come out better from the tournament because of all the exposure and from seeing the high quality football played at the tournament.”

“Watch out for Nelson Maluleka, my key striker whom I know will one day be a household name.  Then I have Paul Keegan (Goalkeeper) and Dane Jooste (midfielder), also talented players,” said Baktawa.

Other big names to go through to this stage of the competition are Johannesburg Secondary School from the Johannesburg North Region, who educates players from the Orlando Pirates development programme and Highlands North Boys’ High School from Johannesburg East.  These teams will now have competition from Clapham High School (Tshwane North) who, as from the beginning of the year, educates players from the Mamelodi Sundowns Academy.

Zitikeni Secondary School from the Ekurhuleni North Region is also a new comer on the block. Their coach Robert Nkoana is hoping his boys will do well. “To be part of a tournament of this calibre is very exciting.  We never thought we would get this far in our first appearance.  Rosina and Johannesburg Secondary have a reputation as the teams that always do well in these tournament but we will take them on.  We might not have academy players in our team but I have excellent talent like captain, Lebogang Mashiane and Karabo Mokau (defender) and Thabo Mokwana (midfielder).”

“If we win COPA Coca-Cola we want to spend the money on soccer equipment, goalposts and flags,” said Nkoana, a Maths teacher at the school who has no formal football coaching training.

The other schools that will be involved in the Gauteng COPA Coca-Cola Provincial Championship are: Thomas Mofolo Secondary School (Johannesburg Central) Basa Tutorial Institute (Johannesburg South) and Edendale School (Gauteng North).

About COPA Coca-Cola:

·         Copa Coca-Cola is run under the auspices of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA)

·         Coca-Cola started sponsoring Coca-Cola Football Stars in 2005.

·         Between 2005 and 2008 a TV reality element was introduced aimed at finding the top 18 players who would go on to compete internationally.  To keep interests high an elimination process was brought in to reduce players from approximately 70 down to 18 and the public witnessed the trials and tribulations that went into becoming a top football player.

·         In 2009 and 2010 the name changed to bring the tournament in line with Coca-Cola’s global youth strategy to COPA Coca-Cola.  The aim of the tournament remained the same i.e. to look for the top Under-19 school in the country and find the top 18 players who then competed against approximately 13 other African schools in the Copa Coca-Cola finals. 

·         In 2012 COPA Coca-Cola became an Under 15 tournament to align with the Copa Coca-Cola globally. 

·         The tournament starts off at Cluster level (this level is now complete as it happened in January)

·         Regional winners then compete in the Provincial Finals

·         Provincial winners then compete in the National Finals taking place from the 3^rd – 7^th July.