Ekurhuleni school to represent Gauteng Province at the Danone Nations Cup national finals

Zamukhanya Primary School from Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, beat St Joseph’s Kulani 1 – 0 in a nail-biting under-12 Danone Nations Cup provincial final match this weekend, which has earned them a spot in the national finals taking place at the Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto, on Saturday, 15^th September. 

“I am overwhelmed as this was not expected’” said an excited coach, Sibonelo Mfeka.  “Our first Danone Nations Cup experience and we have reached the national finals.   I am humbled, and it proves that dreams come true.  It doesn’t matter from where one comes, whether from the dusty streets in the rural areas or the more affluent urban area, anyone can win you just need to have faith and determination.”

The winning strategy, believes the coach, was mental preparation and being able to identify talent and position that talent correctly.  “The challenge is that I have no coaching qualification.  I played soccer at primary school only and I coach the boys according to my personal knowledge of the game.  I teach them the basics.  My talent is being able to pick good players and I allow them to go out and just play the game and then I encourage them and build their confidence.  I tell them that the game is seven against seven and to go out and just enjoy the game. This proved a good strategy as the provincials were not easy.  The teams were good and there were plenty of spectators which was a bit daunting, but the boy’s confidence was so strong that they didn’t let anything phase them.”

The next step is the national finals at the Dobsonville Stadium.  “I am not going to make any changes to either the team or our training regime,” said Mfeka.  “However, I might include more practise sessions.  I am not going to promise we are going to win the nationals, but we will go well prepared and use it as a learning experience.”

Nutrition will also play a key role in preparations.  “The players come from poor families and we have a feeding scheme at the school, and so I am comfortable that they will get enough nutrition to build them up for the nationals.”

Zamukhanya’s first provincial final match against St David’s Marist was tough as their opponents were strong and determined.  Despite the game being played in St David’s half most of time, they failed to capitalise, and the game ended with no score giving each team a point.

Their next game was against an experienced Sunnyside Primary from Pretoria, who have competed in the numerous provincial finals. The newcomers were not phased by experience and went on to beat them 2 – 0.  They then beat Sicelo Primary 1 – 0 to top the log meeting St Joseph’s Kulani in the final match.  It was a tough game with both teams evenly matched.  It could have gone either way with both schools failing to score after numerous shots at goal.  Zamukhanya finally managed to put the ball in the net to win 1 – 0.

The national finals will see the nine provincial winners compete for the title and a chance to represent South Africa at the world finals scheduled for Barcelona, Spain, in 2019.  Entrance to the Dobsonville Stadium on 15^th September is free and, not only can the fans watch first class under-12 soccer, but there will be fun for the whole family in the form of skill testing games, target shooting, jumping castles, face painting and much more.  

Provincial final results:

1. Thembalethu Primary 0 vs 0 St David’s Marist 
2. Phakamani Primary  0 vs  3 Sicelo Primary
3. Bonamelo Primary   3  vs   0   Somelulwazi Primary
4. Sunnyside Primary 0  vs 2  Zamukhanya Primary
5. St Joseph’s Kulani   1  vs  0 Thembalethu Primary
6. St David’s Marist  3  vs  0   Somelulwazi Primary
7. Sicelo Primary   0 vs   1  Zamukhanya Primary
8. Bonamelo Primary 0  vs 1  St Joseph’s Kulani
9. Somelulwazi Primary 0  vs 3  Thembalethu Primary
10. Zamukhanya Primary 3  vs 0 Phakamani Primary
11. St David’s Marist 0  vs  2  Bonamelo Primary
12. Sicelo Primary 3  vs 0  Sunnyside Primary
13. Somelulwazi Primary 0  vs 3  St Joseph’s Kulani
14. Thembalethu Primary 1  vs  3 Bonamelo Primary
15. Phakamani Primary 0 vs  3 Sunnyside Primary
16. St Joseph’s Kulani 1 vs 0  St David’s Marist

FINAL

Zamukhanya 1 vs 0  St Joseph’s Kulani

Danone Nations Cup football kick's 0ff in Ekurhuleni

The under-12 Danone Nations Cup provincial finals will take place at Reiger Park in Boksburg on June 11, and across the country the process to identify the nine qualifying schools is under way.

Gauteng is one of the largest provinces in terms of numbers of schools participating and the Ekurhuleni North and South regions are about to kick-off their cluster-level qualifying matches.

A school that will be competing in the tournament for the first time this year is Chief Luthuli Primary from Daveyton in Ekurhuleni South.  The school opened its doors seven years ago and until this year sport was played but not at a competitive level – that was until new coach, Claude Mathuba, took over.

He is not new to the Danone Nations Cup having coached Ivory Park Primary in the 2012 and 2013 Danone Nations Cup competitions – taking that school to the provincial finals in 2012.

“I saw the difference the Danone Nations Cup made to the players from my previous school in terms of confidence and how this impacted on their academics and now want to do the same at Chief Luthuli. That’s why I entered them into the competition this year.”

The team has been selected and the coach is happy. “I chose boys who have some club experience who understand the pressure that comes with playing in tournaments,” he said.

“I am working on the strikers and their finishing. They need to see the opportunity and take the risk. Far too many strikers get cold feet and pass the ball, missing the opportunity.”

Albertina Sisulu Primary from Thembisa will be competing in the Ekurhuleni North district.  The school has been participating in the Danone Nations Cup since 2013 but has not managed to get past the district level so far. 

Their coach, Gridwell Mohubedu has been coaching at the school since 2013 and is a former Benoni United player.

He says that while he knows the boys want to get to the provincial finals, his focus is on education (he teaches maths, social science and biology).

”They won’t get far without a good education,” he says. “I tell the boys they must look up to players like Lehlohonolo Majoro, currently at Orlando Pirates, who has a degree in Radiology, Daine Klate (SuperSport United) who has a degree in Financial Accounting and Tefu Mashamaite (currently competing in the USA) who has a degree in Political Science. They are the role models young players should be following.”

Mohubedi believes a good player needs to use his educational skills to be able to anticipate other players and the ball. ”You need to be a lateral thinker and problem solver to be a good player.”

Katlehong-based Monde Primary School will be playing in the Ekurhuleni South district. They have been competing since 2013 with the same manager, Nondumiso Ndlagisa and coach, Jabulani William Mthembu, but have never made it past district level.

Mthembu is well qualified: he has a SAFA level 1 coaching certificate and has Coaching 1, 2 and 3 and life skills from the Netherlands Soccer Association and played for Benoni United. He is an external coach that comes to assist with soccer at the school.

“As an outsider, it’s important to assess the behaviour of the players. If a child does not behave in class this will spread onto the football field and he can become disruptive,” he says.

“So I have only selected players that do well academically, are disciplined and already have a basic knowledge of the sport. In this way we hope to make it to the provincial level.”

Ekurhuleni District start their Danone Nations Cup qualifiers

The Ekurhuleni District in Gauteng kicks-off their road to the under-12 Danone Nations Cup world cup, taking place in Morocco later this year, when the eight participating schools meet at Benoni Northerns on 15^th April; the winning team will progress through to the regional finals taking place at Benoni Northerns on 14^th May.

Competing teams are: Farrarmere Primary School, Rynfield Primary School, Tom Newby School, Benoni West Primary School, Summersfields Primary School, Laerskool Verkenner, Laerskool Westwood and Kathstan College 

The school that is tipped to win is Farrarmere Primary, who was beaten on penalties by Siphumelele Primary from KZN, at the national finals in 2014 and missed the opportunity to play in the world finals in Brazil.

They are back again this year, with a new coach, and are determined to go one step further this time.

“The year has started well for us,” said Coach Moeketsi “Pride” Moorosi, former Orlando Pirates professional player.  “We know all the schools we will be playing against and we have already won a prestigious tournament this year so the cluster games should be smooth sailing for us.  We are confident that we will be progressing to the next level in the tournament, but from then onwards we will be challenged.“

Gauteng is one of the most competitive provinces, the coach said, so meeting up with the schools from the other districts will not be easy, but he has faith that they will reach the provincial and national playoffs in the tournament.

“Positivity, focus and self belief are key principles to a winning team, but I also instil the importance of having fun and enjoying every game.  I tell my players that losing only means that you have to work extra hard next time around,” he said.

When the players found out that Moorosi is an ex-professional player, this made them even more hungry to become professional players themselves. “I try to be humble and grounded,” he said. “My history is my history and as a coach my job is to help these youngsters create their own history in football.”

Although Moorosi doesn’t like singling out individual players, he is excited about his captain, Trent Van Der Walt. “He plays centre back, he leads the game and the team,” he said. “He will go places in soccer should he decide to make a career out of it. He also plays rugby and I hear that he is good at it too.”

Last year Farrarmere had a lot of support from the parents and the coach hopes it will be the same this time around. “We believe in parent participation, it’s crucial for the kids,” Moorosi said. “The parents support the school in every way possible, they raise funds for the school, they pretty much support us in everything we do, so we are expecting parents at all our games cheering the boys.”

Ends

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