Outsiders win the U19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Free State Lejweleputswa district finals

The Lejweleputswa district finals in the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, produced a major surprise over the weekend when the competition’s most successful school, Harmony High of Virginia were eliminated.

They were beaten by Concordia High School of Theunissen, which means that the district will be represented by new school at the Free State provincial finals, and that Harmony will not be at the nationals this year.

Since Sanlam came on board as sponsors in 2010, and the prize money was hiked to a staggering R3.4 million per year, Harmony High has pocketed prize money every year.  They finished first in 2011, second in 2010, in 2012 and 2013 they took fourth position and in 2014 they took fifth position.  They also received the R100 000 prize money as provincial winners in 2010, 2012 and 2014.  In total they pocketed a cool R2.7 million they spent on legacy projects.

But not this year and according to Concordia’s manager/coach, Matlamedi Monapula, bundling them out of the tournament came down to his team having faith in themselves and not being intimidated by Harmony’s reputation.

“They won their 1st game 6-0, so it was natural that our players were worried about them, but I told them that there is no room for intimidation, the Harmony players are boys just like them,” he said. “Besides, they all play in the SAFA second division with their local teams and sometimes they do play against the Harmony players. After we had that pep talk I could see that the players were more confident in themselves and they played brilliantly. We played a fast-paced game so that they weren’t able to keep up with us. It was a pretty intense game, they fought very hard but we fought harder to make sure that we came up out on top.”

The highlight of the regional finals for the coach was beating Harmony. “We have been participating in this tournament for many years now. Last year we were knocked out during the regional finals, we came second in our stream. Each year we come back with a positive attitude ready for action and this year was no different,” he said.

The lead up has been very successful for the school. They have played 13 games now, and have won 11 and drawn 2. “The team has surprised me at how well they have been doing in this tournament,” Monapula said.

Monapula has been coaching since 2007 and believes that pace and stamina are important. “I believe that a team should play a fast-paced game, I want players that can’t be outrun by the opposition,” he said. “Beating Harmony has definitely made me even more confident in my coaching philosophy.”

This year’s team comprises the entire under-17 team with only two players from last year included. “I have been coaching these boys since they were 14 years old so they know each other well and are used to my style of doing things,” he said. “The boys are heading in the right direction and I believe that we will do well at the provincials.”

Now that the other schools see that Lejweleputswa is going to be represented by a different school other than Harmony they might think that they have the provincial title in the bag, Monapula said.

“But that will not be the case; I think that they should see us as stiff competition. We knocked out the most victorious school in this competition that should count for something. It should be a warning to other schools that Concordia High School means business.”

The coach sees HTS Louis Botha as their biggest competition. “I know they last qualified for the provincials in 2013 and finished in second position in the nationals and they are looking for a comeback so I think they might be a problem for us,” he said.

Results of the Lejweleputswa district playoffs:

Harmony 6 vs Monyakeng 0

Leseding 1 vs Aramela 0

Concordia 2 vs Harmony 1

Aramelo 0 vs Tikwana 6

Monyakeng 0 vs Concordia 4

Tikwana 5 vs Leseding 0

Final - Concordia 0  vs Tikwana 0 (Concordia won 4-2 on penalties).

Restvale Primary win the Western Cape Danone Nations Cup

Laurence Rathenam, the principal of Restvale Methodist Primary School, in  Beaufort West, and manager of their under-12 soccer team has nicknamed his team “Die miere” (the ants) because of the way they all work hard together for a common purpose, and it’s that attitude, he believes, that has made them Western Cape champions in the under-12 Danone Nations Cup.

They took the title at the provincial finals in Mossel Bay on 6^th June and, although Rathenham has lost count of how many times they have entered the tournament, this is the first time they will be going to the national finals.

“When we were knocked out at the regional finals last year our plan was to win in 2015 and we did just that,” he said. “Now that we have achieved that goal we can start focusing on the bigger picture which is the nationals.”

The Restvale team is a mixture of experienced and new players and Rathenham believes that’s a good thing because the older players have taken on a “big brother” role and are helping the younger ones.

“The team has amazed me. They have listened to instructions and have lived up to the Danone Nations Cup motto which is ‘believe in your dreams’,” he said. “They have proved to me that they are committed to winning this tournament and I believe that they will if they continue along the same path.”

Rathenham is a professional referee who took charge of the team this year. He has enlisted the help of Vernon Reyners, a coach at one of the local clubs, to prepare the team for the provincials. “He is an excellent coach and has brought in some technical aspects that have proved successful,” Rathenham said.

The provincial finals were tough as they didn’t know what to expect, but the boys weren’t nervous or intimidated, Rathenham said. “We were impressed at how they managed to maintain their cool and we hope that they do that in the national finals in Gauteng on 27^th June.”

The team has a lot of talented players, and Rathenham said he is proud of all of them, but there were 3 shining stars: defender Kenneth Booysen, midfielder Jeremy Oosthuizen and striker Chad Solomons, who scored 3 goals at the provincial finals.

“We have the backing of the school, the parents and the entire community. Playing in the nationals will be a first for us and let’s hope that our team will be the first Western Cape team to play in the world finals in Morocco in October,” said Rathenham.

The team is taking a short break to recuperate from the provincial finals before they get down to preparing for the nationals.

Results

Imakaya 2 vs Erika 0

Masakhane 0 (2) vs Restvale 0 (1)

Naphakade 0 (1) vs Kleinberg 0 (2)

Mzoxolo 0 (5) vs Reitenbosch 0 (4)

Imakaya 0 vs Naphakade 2

Masakhane 0 vs Mzoxolo 2

Erika 0 vs Kleinberg 2

Restvale 1 (3) vs Reitenbosch 1 (2)

Kleinberg 1 vs Imakaya 0

Reitenbosch 2 (3) vs Masakhane 2 (2)

Naphakade 1 vs Erika 0

Mzoxolo 0 vs Restvale 1

Final

Kleinberg 0 (2) vs Restvale Primary 0 (3)

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

DNC Partners:

Bree Primary hopes to relive their 2009 Danone Nations Cup success

Johannesburg’s Bree Primary – the 2009 Danone Nations Cup world title holders - are through to the Gauteng provincial finals of the 2015 competition and ready to regain their former glory.

The finals will be the WJ Clements Stadium in Reiger Park on 13th June.

Their team manager, and principal of the school, Devanand Kalicharran, explains that they have virtually the same team that entered the competition last year, and their performances in the competition so far have shown that they have benefited greatly from the experience they have picked up.

“Last year we simply did not score enough goals,“ he said. “We drew two games and only won one at the provincials and were eliminated. Now, we have played 11 games and won them all.

“The team has a much better attitude, they are more mature and confident and we are well prepared. We are participating in local leagues and in different soccer tournaments so the players have been able to get a lot of game time, which has made them bond as a team.”

The school’s track record in the competition has made them a target, Kalicharran explains. “Every school that we play, from cluster level up, see us a threat and want to prove that they can beat us. But we have an edge over the other teams, we have been at this level before we know what to expect.”

Goal-scoring was a problem last year, but the team’s strikers, Lunga Nonkelela and Tshepo Baitshumedi are in good form, both have scored six goals so far, and Kalicharran sees them as key players for the team. “Our goalkeeper Mncedisi Nguse, has also grown greatly and we have 3 good defenders in Ntando Simayele, Kgomolemo Dladla and Tsegofatso Ikge.”

Coaching and managing kids is tough, Kalicharran said. “They are easily demotivated and it’s my job to make sure that when they start feeling that way I quickly get them back up.

“I often talk of the miracle team of 2009. I tell them that the 2009 team was no different to them, they didn’t have special powers. We didn’t expect them to win the World Finals, but they won because they worked hard and they believed in themselves. I tell this team to work hard and believe in themselves too.

The school has maintained its relationship with Orlando Pirates and still supplies players to their youth Academy. They are also associated with Stars of Africa Football Academy. They regularly visit the school and check out the talent.

“We will win the provincials this year, I believe that the teams is capable it,” Kalicharran said. “We still have the same coach Bafana Dlamini, and he is still dedicated to the team and its success. We have rectified our mistakes, the only challenge we have is that the week of the provincials is exam week at the school, so we are trying to figure out how we will fit in 1 good training session before the provincials next Saturday.”

The Gauteng provincial contenders are:

Bree Primary School-JHB North District

Sonqoba Primary School-Ekurhuleni South District

Nancefield Primary School- JHB Central District

Sikhulisile Primary School- Gauteng North District

Michael Mkhwanazi Primary School- Gauteng East District

Christian Progressive College- Tshwane West District

Tsumbedzo Primary School - JHB West District

Acorn Park Primary School-Sedibeng District

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

Danone Partners

Umqhele High School wins a spot in the KZN Kay Motsepe Schools Cup provincial final

Clermont’s Umqhele High School took a big step towards a second consecutive appearance at the national finals of the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, by winning the Pinetown District playoffs this week.

The school came second at the 2014 KwaZulu-Natal provincial finals to eventual national runners-up, Tholokuhle High School, which earned them a spot at the nationals, where they finished in 12th position.

They are now through to the KwaZulu-Natal provincial finals and according to their manager, Phenduka Mkhwanazi, 10 of last year’s players are back again this time, and with that experience in their ranks they are hoping to do better this time around.

“The team is used to this tournament and I guess that is why we have managed to win the district finals again,” Mkhwanazi said. “I am not saying that it was easy for us as there were new schools from our cluster participating but having gone all the way to the nationals last year helped my players as they knew what to expect.”

Last year’s nationals were an eye-opener, Mkhwanazi said. “We learned a lot from the other schools, especially from the two schools that played in the final game (Holy Trinity and Tholokuhle).

“We were impressed by our neighbouring school Tholokuhle, they represented the province very well last year we supported them, but they have been knocked out of the competition this year, so it’s their turn to support us.”

As they are going into the next stage with the majority of last year’s players still in the team, Mkhwanazi believes they are more experienced, more organised and, most importantly, they are hungry for success. “They saw what winning this tournament can do for players and the school and they want that to happen for them as well,” he said. “They know that all games should be taken seriously, they know that we have to take all our chances and win every game from now on.”

The main reason for competing in the tournament, Mkhwanazi said, is to give the boys exposure. “We know that talent scouts attend these tournaments to look for talent and the players need to use the opportunity to show what they can do.”

Two of the current players, the captain, Nkanyiso Zungu, and Thabani Mnguni were invited to the Mamelodi Sundowns Academy training camp last year and, although they didn’t make it through to the academy, Mkhwanazi said they now know that they need to work extra hard to make sure that they get called up again this year and hopefully get signed this time.

The team has the same coach - Sthembiso Ntuli – who has been coaching the school’s senior team for a number of years now. “He has worked very hard to make sure that the team develops and the players believe in him,” Mkhwanazi said.