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.
“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
Masi Mkhize, Communications Manager, Danone Southern Africa. “We are
combining Danone’s Centenary celebrations and the 20th edition of
the world finals 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 Mkhize.
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2019 DNC WORLD
FINALS
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GIRLS TOURNAMENT - COMPETING
TEAMS
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COUNTRY
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REPRESENTING TEAM
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Argentina
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Club Atletico River Plate
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England
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Easington Colliery Girls
Primary School
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France
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Olympique Lyonnais FC
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Italy
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SSC Napoli FC
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Japan
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Chiba Chuo FC
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South Africa
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Rebonwe Primary School
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Spain
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RCD Espanyol FC
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Uruguay
|
Nautico FC
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