Gauteng schools training for the Danone Nations Cup soccer tournament

 

The local Gauteng under-12 Danone Nations Cup soccer games are about to get under way and a school that will be competing for the first time is Mondeor Primary School from the Central Johannesburg district.

Their entry is something of a coup for the competition as Mondeor is an established school with a strong sporting tradition. It is 61 years old and has 1 100 pupils. Apart from soccer, they play netball, cricket, 7-a-side rugby, cross country, athletics and tennis at the school.

Soccer has always been a high priority sport at the school which has produced some successful players such as the current Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper, Read Pieters.

Many of the players are with soccer clubs, which has made it hard for the coach, Lucas Nduna, to select a final squad as he has so many good players to choose from. The tournament rules say that the squad can only contain 12 players, so many have been left out, which hasn’t made Nduna very popular.  “It’s a high profile tournament that everyone wants to play in,” he said, “but I had to make a choice.”

This is the coach’s first year at the school, where he is a physical education teacher. He runs a local club called Mondeor Rangers and 6 of the players in the team are from there.

Nduna believes that hard work is the fundamental quality of all top players in any sport. “You have to put the work in if you want to progress and get better. Working hard during a team training session is a given. The top players also spend hours on their own perfecting the touch and the feel of the ball,” he said.

Meanwhile Ditawama Primary from Orlando East will be competing in the Johannesburg North district of the competition for the third year.

They have never managed to get past the cluster level before, but their coach, Victor Makhetha is up for the challenge.

His background is in special needs education and teaching in the mainstream has been quite an adaptation for him.

His team has players who are new to soccer and are still learning the basic. He says he is treating this year as if it is the school’s first time in the competition. “We are starting afresh and are determined to do better that we have in the past,” he said. “Tournaments like the Danone Nations Cup are important because they help in developing player skills. These days most kids don’t have much too look forward to, so some think they have to join bad company in order for them to be liked or popular. Danone cares about the community. I hope they will continue with their amazing contribution to soccer,” he said.

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

 

EXCITEMENT BUILDS AS BARKERVILLE BOYS PREPARE TO SHOWCASE THEIR TALENT IN MADRID

Preparations for the Barkerville Junior Secondary School boys that will be participating in the Danone Nations Cup World Finals are going exceptionally well, thanks to the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Art, Culture and Recreation who has commissioned the coaches from the Eastern Cape Academy of Sport to run training camps to boost their skills.

Barkerville is situated in Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape, a poor rural village that does not have a football field, nets and training gear.  The Boys won the Danone Nations Cup (South Africa) in July and their prize is a trip to Spain from 5^th to the 10^th October to compete with 39 other countries in a World Final, the biggest football tournament for children between 10 and 12 years old in the world.

Mr Luvuyo Mankanku, a coordinator at the Eastern Cape Academy for Sport has been working with the Barkerville team and is very optimistic about the boys’ chances of doing well in Spain. “From what I’ve seen over the past few weeks that I’ve been working with the boys, I think the team will do well”. Mankanku furthermore believes that a few of the boys have what it takes to pursue a career in football, that is if they get the proper development training: “ Some of these boys have really impressed me and even though they are still at the early stages in their development, with the right systems in place these boys could go far”. 

This comes as no surprise to the people of Mount Frere, who have always believed in the sporting talent the region has to offer. “We have always produced top sportsmen in this Alfred Nzo district, Andile Jali is an example, but it is not just restricted to football, we are very strong in most of the sporting codes” says Mpilo Canga, head coach of the Barkerville team. “When we entered the Danone Nations Cup for the first time in 2009 we weren’t merely making up numbers, we always believed we could win.”

That belief has been the driving force behind the team who will be boarding a plane for the first time as they jet off to Spain. As an added motivator the boys will get to play the final day of the tournament at the home ground of Real Madrid, and will get to meet football legend Zinedine Zidane who is the tournaments ambassador. 

Since its inception in 2000, the tournament has grown from 8 participating countries to now 40 and South Africa is the only country to win the event three times (2003,2007 and 2009) and to date the Danone Nations Cup has touched the lives of over 16 million children around the world. “By bringing healthy food and some good healthy fun together, children learn about life through a shared experience. And to those who get to the World Finals, it is an experience that will undoubtedly become a cherished memory,” says Sandra Dorville, Communications manager of Danone Southern Africa.

The final training camp will take place in East London at the home of National First Division Club, Blackburn Rovers FC.  There will be eight teams taking part under the guidance of the Eastern Cape Academy for Sports.  “We have invited some of the East London schools to participate which will give the Barkerville team good match practise.  As an Academy we will also be giving the other teams training as well to further boost the sport in the area”, said Mankanku.