Gauteng schools in cup shootout

THE provincial departments of sport and education in Gauteng have joined forces to demonstrate their support for the revival and intensification of school sport programmes.

MEC for sport, arts, culture and recreation Lebogang Maile and his education counterpart Barbara Creecy are funding the inaugural Future Champions Schools Cup.

Jointly presented by the South African Schools Football Association, the first matches will take place at Hillview High School in Pretoria tomorrow.

A total of 16 schools will take part in the tournament. The top two teams will qualify for the provincial finals to be played later this month.

Participating schools include Lamula-Jubilee High of Meadowlands, Chipa-Tabane Secondary of Cullinan, SG Mafaesa of Kagiso, Thomas Mofolo Secondary from Soweto, Ngaka Maseko High School from Mabopane, Tsolo Secondary School from Vanderbijlpark and Liberty High School from Johannesburg South.

Maile said: “When some of us were growing up, Wednesdays were dedicated sports days where even some of the professional soccer and athletics teams used to scout for talent.

“Currently, there are school sports competitions but MEC Creecy and I have decided to work together to ensure our schools will also produce top sportsmen and women.”

Creecy could not be reached for comment.

  • 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