Danone Nations Cup World Finals - Less than 100 Days to Barcelona for our U-12 Boys and Girls soccer teams

Less than 100 Days to Barcelona for our U-12 Boys and Girls soccer teams

Schools go back this week and that means training starts for the three schools preparing for the Danone Nations Cup world finals in Spain in October.

The commendable three schools, Muzuvukile Primary from KZN, Nomlinganiselo from Crossroads in the Western Cape and a girls team from Gauteng, Rebonwe Primary School are upping their game plan to make sure they are ready to take on the world’s best in Barcelona from the 10^th and 12^th October.

It’s a once in a lifetime experience where they will come head to head against 29 countries to prove to the world that South African soccer development is being invested in and we are as good as any other country at this level. Whilst it will be important to prepare technically, our players will need to prepare mentally too. Dr Kirsten van Heerden, ex South African swimming champion, now a sports psychologist in Durban, says travelling overseas for the first time can be both exciting and overwhelming for any athlete. 

“Not only do you need to cope with the pressure of international competition, but the travel experience itself is hard,” she said. “The long-haul flight, hanging around airports, eating different food, meeting different people – it can all be quite difficult to cope with; even though it is fun at the same time.”

Her advice to the coaches is to research the different countries they will be competing against; “Knowing your opponents, their strengths and weaknesses, is a key component of preparation. It’s also a great opportunity for the players to learn about a new country before experiencing it first-hand.  It’s experiential learning at it very best and one of the great things about sport, getting a chance to experience the world.”

Preparing to compete internationally is different, Dr Van Heerden believes. “Preparations are similar for any competition, but for that level of play it’s even more important. You may not win as easily as you do at home, so our children should focus on the process and not just the outcome.”

“Confidence is critical,” explained van Heerden. “It’s a key mental skill and is what helps you to perform under pressure. Of course, the kids need to believe they can win, but losing is part of sport too and losing is not failing. Focus on competing well, give of your best and don’t overemphasise winning.

“Competing for your country is always a proud moment.  For me, rather than remember any one moment, I can look back at my career in its entirety (both the happy and disappointing times) and I feel really good.” 

Coaches play a crucial role in a young athlete’s life, said Van Heerden. “A lot of time is spent with the coach, and the relationship between coach and athlete can help improve performance. The best athletes are the hardest workers, they put in the extra training time.”

Look where your competitive edge is, she advises. “You may be faster, more skillful or maybe you handle pressure well. All athletes and teams need to work out what their competitive edge is and use it.”

There is much to gain from a tour like this, Van Heerden said. “Sport teaches you much about yourself, dealing with failure, dealing with success, working in a team and much more. Travelling internationally and experiencing a new country and culture also broadens your horizons and opens your eyes. When the kids get back on home soil, I expect they will be more focused and experienced, with a lot more vision. You come back with a set of experiences and new friends that you didn’t have before. My advice to the girls and boys is to immerse themselves in the sights and sounds of the beautiful city of Barcelona.”

The 2018 and 2019 world finals will be held as a double header.  “Barcelona is symbolic as it was in this city in 1919 that Isaac Carasso created the first Danone yoghurt with the aim of improving one’s health,” said Marlinie Kotiah, General Secretary Director of Danone Southern Africa.  “We are combining Danone’s centenary and the 20^th edition of the world final 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 Kotiah.

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

CSA AND KFC CELEBRATE A DECADE OF THE KFC MINI-CRICKET PROGRAMME

Cricket South Africa (CSA) and KFC are celebrating a decade of partnership with the start of the 10^th KFC Mini-Cricket National Seminar in George, Western Cape.

“This is truly something to celebrate together, KFC has been a loyal sponsor and supporter of South African cricket sponsoring the game at many levels from grassroots development cricket, right up to the sponsorship of the Standard Bank Proteas T20 International series,” commented CSA Chief Executive Thabang Moroe.

“The KFC Mini-Cricket programme is one of the most impactful and significant development programmes in the South African sporting landscape and goes far beyond the game of cricket. It brings youngsters from across our diverse country together and not only introduces them to our wonderful game of cricket but also allows them to get active. This is a very important programme contributing to the social cohesion of our nation.”

This celebration most importantly celebrates the coaches and coordinators who all volunteer freely giving up their time and expertise to make the lives and experiences of the kids a happy one while they play Mini-Cricket. These selfless people need to be applauded for the commendable work they have done throughout the past 10 years always bringing passion and commitment to the game.

“KFC Mini-Cricket is the entry level for the majority of our cricketers into our talent development pipeline and the success stories are plenty. The overwhelming majority of our players who have made up our under-19 World Cup squads in recent times, including our World Champions of 2014, were first introduced to cricket through this programme. There are memories created that will live forever, notably through the involvement of our children as ball boys and girls and participants of the coin toss at KFC T20 International matches and during the various interactive initiatives.

I cannot thank KFC enough for their unwavering support over such an extended period of time and more importantly for introducing the youth of our nation to an active lifestyle,” concluded Mr. Moroe.

“KFC is proud and excited for having reached this incredible milestone for our partnership with Cricket South Africa and the KFC Mini-Cricket programme. We thank our committed partners, CSA and the respective programme structures for their unwavering support to ensure that kids in all communities are introduced to the beautiful game of cricket. We look forward to the many great years in growing the programme and creating even more unforgettable experiences for the KFC Mini-Cricket kids, the skills they learn from this game are beyond cricket, this game grows leadership, discipline, team work, friendships and this is what our country needs to move it forward.” Lauren Turnbull, Corporate Communications Marketing Manager, KFC South Africa. 

Rebonwe girls from Gauteng and KZN’s Muzuvukile boys will be travelling to Spain to participate in the Danone Nations Cup world finals

 

South Africa will make history later this year by sending an under-12 girls soccer team to compete in the Danone Nations Cup world finals, where they will be competing against seven other nations. And the team that will represent the country will be a group of players from an informal settlement in Ivory Park, Gauteng. They earned this opportunity by winning the Danone Nations Cup girls tournament that took place at Reiger Park, Boksburg this past weekend.

They will be accompanied by the boys from Muzuvukile Primary School of Enseleni, a rural area near Richards Bay, who won the boys national finals at the same venue.

A girls tournament was introduced for the first time this year but because most schools do not have girls-only teams, it was a pilot tournament in Gauteng only, with 40 schools participating. 

There were regional finals and 8 schools went through to a provincial playoff. The teams that reached the semifinals there were then invited to compete at the national finals.

Rebonwe met Michael Mkhwanazi Primary in the final. They had played each other earlier in the day and Michael Mkhwanazi won the closely contested match 2-1.

So, Rebonwe knew that they were in for a tough game in the final and gave it everything from the beginning. This time they were better prepared and created many scoring opportunities. They were first to score, but Michael Mkhwanazi equalised within minutes.

Rebonwe had the better of the exchanges from then on and came close to scoring right at the end of the game. It ended in a draw, however, and went to a penalty shootout which Rebonwe won, to add the national title to their provincial title.

At the same time, the nine boys provincial champions competed in the playoffs for their national title. The teams were divided into 2 groups with the teams that topped the log meeting in the final.

Muzuvukile was always going to be the team to beat based on their exceptional performance in the provincial finals. They are a very strong team and three of their players have been invited to attend trials at Mamelodi Sundowns. They won all their league games to finish top of their pool and met Group B winners Patekile from the Eastern Cape in the final match. 

Muzuvukile were the only team that won all their matches leading up to the final and the final was very much like the group stages.

They made many chances to score but the Patekile goalkeeper, Alethu Mathumbu, was outstanding, saving shot after shot. Patekile tried to take advantage of the odd counter-attack but they never really threatened the Muzuvukile goal.

With a couple of minutes left in the match, just as the spectators started to think that we would have another penalty shootout, Siyanda Masinga from Muzuvukile managed to get the ball past Alethu and give Muzuvukile the lead. They had a few more chances to add to their lead but once again Alethu was there to stop them scoring and they ran out 1-0 winners.

It’s now back to school for both the boys and girls winners to put together a plan in preparation of the world finals scheduled for Barcelona starting on 10^th October.

On the final day of the world finals – 12^th October - all the games will take place at the RCDE Stadium, home ground La Liga club, RCD Espanyol de Barcelona. 

In attendance at the national finals was Amanda Dlamini, ex captain of Banyana Banyana, who was there to encourage the girls. “I was 22 when I first travelled overseas for Banyana Banyana and I remember that experience well.  It was daunting and a bit frightening, but it opened my eyes to the limitless opportunities that exist in the world.  I matured fast and I believe these young 12 year-olds will feel the same.”

The 2018 and 2019 world finals will be held as a double header.  “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 Marlinie Kotiah, General Secretary Danone Southern Africa.  “We are combining Danone’s centenary and the 20^th edition of the world final 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 Kotiah.

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

GROUP DANONE

Dedicated to bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone is a leading global food & beverage company building on health-focused and fast-growing categories in three businesses: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based Products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices, in line with its ‘One Planet. One Health’ vision which reflects a strong belief that the health of people and that of the planet are interconnected. To bring this vision to life and create superior, sustainable, profitable value for all its stakeholders, Danone has defined its 2030 Goals: a set of nine integrated goals aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Danone commits to operating in an efficient, responsible and inclusive manner; it holds itself to the highest standards in doing business, as reflected by its ambition to become one of the first multinationals certified as B CorpTM. With more than 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated €24.7 billion in sales in 2018. Danone’s portfolio includes leading international brands (Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, among others) as well as strong local and regional brands (including AQUA, Blédina, Bonafont, Cow & Gate, Horizon, Mizone, Oikos, Prostokvashino, Silk, Vega).

The First Powerade Performance Academy is a Huge Success In Durban

Annual seminar held to empower local coaches

The 6^th annual Powerade Performance Academy kicked off in Durban last week. It saw coaches from around KwaZulu-Natal listen to expert performance coaches as part of an interactive session of empowering and enriching lessons for school coaches. Powerade has aimed much of its focus on high school coaches in recognition of their role as primary influencers of the next generation of South Africa’s sporting heroes.

Dick Muir, Simphiwe Dludlu, John McGrath and Sizwe Ndlovu took the coaches through critical aspects of coaching, on and off the field of play, at the KZN Academy.

Dick Muir, Former Springbok rugby player, ex Springbok and Sharks coach and Managing director of the Investec International Rugby Academy SA, spoke about why he is part of the Powerade Academy, “The biggest thing for me sharing knowledge with the coaches. Making them believe there is no such thing as a bad coach, just an ill-informed coach.” he said. “It’s important to invest in coaches because, through them, we are investing in our youth. Developing the knowledge of coaches is important in preparing kids at a young age.” Muir concluded.

Simphiwe Dludlu, SA U-17 Women’s Coach reflected on the teams 2019 U-17 Women’s World Cup experience. She inspired the coaches to build character in their teams. “I find it amazing that we expect players to perform in a certain way when we do not really know their characters and what they are mentally capable of. Everyone is born with a certain character; we need to understand the building blocks of character and how to influence a person’s character for the better.” she said.

Sizwe Ndlovu, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, spoke about what he called the new low. “It is important for people and coaches more especially to understand that when they reach a milestone, instead of saying that this is the highest they can reach, but rather  should look at the milestone and say this is my “new low” and I need to do better than this.”

Ndlovu continued narrating his journey to the coaches about his journey as an athlete and facing setbacks but never giving up.  He further explained how the concept of a new low helped him to surpass his goals.

John McGrath, a former strongman who is now a high performance business coach. McGrath tackled the mental side of preparing sports men and women,. “I was there to talk about “In shifting paradigms it is  about abandoning preconceived ideas that people have about their abilities and about what is conceived as a boundary,” he said.

McGrath illustrated practical examples of breaking boundaries by bending nails, breaking chains, tearing packs of cards and straightening a horseshoe. “These are all metaphors for what you can do and what is possible. I don’t expect all of the coaches to start bending nails but the coaches at the Powerade Performance Academy are there to learn how to make breakthroughs.”

“At Powerade Performance Academy you have coaches that have performed at a world class level and they are talking to coaches from all over South Africa and that is a price worth paying.” he said.

Coaching continues to be an ever-transforming discipline that incorporates innovative techniques and principles to improve performance. The Academy allowed the coaches from the various schools and sporting codes to go back to their respective schools in the spirit of “teach one, teach all’.

To connect the coaches across the country, Powerade has also introduced a Powerade Facebook Community called the Coaches Corner where coaches can interact and share their daily challenges and achievements with their peers. The next legs of Powerade Performance Academies will take place in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

For more information, visit Powerade Facebook page (@PoweradeZA) and #AlwaysForward. 

ENDS