Future Champs Tourney A Huge Hit

GAUTENG sport, arts, culture and recreation MEC Lebogang Maile has described the Gauteng Future Champions Under- 17 international tournament as a platform to unearth and expose local talent globally. #socialMediaBar #socialMediaBar ul #socialMediaBar ul li Tweet IMPRESSED: MEC Lebogang Maile We are using competitions like this to prepare our players for international competitions Maile was speaking at the end of the tournament where Brazil”s Clube Atletico Mineiro retained their title in Soweto at the weekend. Mineiro beat Uruguay”s Nacional 2-1 in an exciting all-South American final played at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville. “While we are disappointed that our four clubs did not qualify for the second round, for us the most important thing is development,” said Maile. “We are using competitions like this to prepare our players for international competitions. We are confident some of them will play for Bafana Bafana one day.” Clube Atletico Mineiro”s Ze Alberto scored a brace that was good enough to help his team win the tournament for a second successive year. Nacional”s goal came from Marcos Labandeira, his sixth of the tournament to become joint top scorer with Orlando Pirates”s Siyanda Ngcobo. Earlier in the day, the School of Excellence made sure they did not finish last when they defeated Mohloli High School 2-0 in the 11th-place play-off. Their goals came from Moses Raphepele and Kgosi Sejosingoe. Ghana”s FC Nania took eighth place after defeating Bidvest Wits 1-0 thanks to a Abraziz Abankwah goal. Wits finished ninth. Qatar”s Aspire Academy finished a credible seventh with a 1-0 win over Botswana”s Young Zebras, Sultan Abdelhamid getting the goal. Once more, Pirates were the top South African side, finishing in fifth place and qualifying for the 2012 Future Champions Belo Horizonte in Brazil. The junior Amabhakabhaka beat New England Revolution from the US 4-2. Scorers were Ngcobo, Tshepo Liphoko, Nhlakanipho Ntuli and Sizwe Twala. K-Stars of Zambia won a bronze medal following a 1-0 win over Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, thanks to Austin Muwowo”s solitary goal.

  • We had a wonderful football and cultural experience in Gauteng. The tournament and activities were very well organized and we found everyone involved extremely helpful and accommodating. We have all returned home with fantastic memories of our time in South Africa, both on and off the pitch, and have made many new friends as a result of the trip. I hope that we are invited to participate in future tournaments.

    Everton Academy Head Coach

  • The experience both on and off the field for our players during the Future Champions tournament in Gauteng was life-enriching for all those who participated. We were privileged enough to win this edition but what will be bringing us back in future is the cross-cultural education our players receive from spending time with athletes from all over the world. They are human beings before they are football players and enriching them with other cultures is as rewarding as the experience they receive on the field.

    Club Tijuana Director of Football

  • After twenty years of experiencing tournaments around the globe, Future Champions is hands down the best organized, well run International Tournament we have ever participated in. Bringing teams from dozens of different countries provided our boys exposure to cultural diversity they only read about in textbooks. It’s amazing how sport can be the cultural link that provides the opportunity to interact with each other and discover that our global community is a bit smaller than they realized. We had a football and cultural experience that will be cherished for the rest of our lives.

    Director of USYSA Select

  • For us to compete in Future Champions is much more than playing a series of matches. It is an opportunity to compete and contrast our level against the best teams from around the world and the possibility of living in another culture and environment for an unforgettable week, learning about the history of the fight for human rights.

    Director of Aspire Academy

  • The addition of a girls’ competition this year is a natural expansion for what has become a hugely popular event. Over and above the football, the players are also exposed to life-skills courses and HIV/AIDS awareness that could end up saving their lives in the future. We have had an amazing partnership with the Gauteng Province over the last decade and we thank each and every stakeholder for making the Future Champions Gauteng campaign such a huge success

    Tournament director