League honours for Bay’s Melisizwe

MOTHERWELL’S Melisizwe Primary School wrapped up the Spur Masidlale League in great style, winning the girls division and finishing in second place on the boys’ log this week.

The finals games, which took place at the NU2 Stadium in Motherwell, saw both culminating in exciting penalty shootouts.

The Melisizwe girls beat Zanoxolo Primary1-0 in a heated penalty battle.

The boys lost 3-0 against Enkwenkwezini, which saw them finish in second place.

A thrilling 2015 season saw more than 800 pupils competing in weekly fixtures in KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Soweto.

Over a seven-week period 10 boys’ and 10 girls’ teams of children aged between nine and 13 years took to the field in each region to determine the overall winning teams.

The winning team in each region can look forward to a special VIP Premier Soccer League experience. Not only will they be treated to a special Spur lunch, but they will also attend a PSL game as team mascots.

Launched in 2005, the Spur Masidlale Soccer Programme has successfully used soccer to educate, inspire and empower young people and has now partnered with Grassroot Soccer (GRS) to manage the life skills component of the league.

According to Khakhi Diala of the Spur Group, the Masidlale programme is recognised as one of the leading youth soccer development initiatives in South Africa.

“We started with 12 one-day coaching clinics, but the league has grown steadily and has highlighted the huge need for initiatives that provide a platform for youth development.

“Through

the

Masidlale programme, we teach kids both soccer and life skills, and we are very excited about the partnership with GRS.”

Since being founded in 2002, GRS has worked in more than 46 countries, with more than 716 410 youth graduating from programmes run by GRS and partners similar to the Masidlale programme.

“The league helps kids to realise learning from others with experience can be great fun, while also of huge benefit to them personally – and that is exactly what we aimed to achieve with the Spur Masidlale Soccer Development Programme,” Diala said.

Results: Girls’ finals: Zanoxolo 0 vs Melisizwe 0 (Melisizwe won on penalties by 1-0) 3rd & 4th Enkwenkwezi 1 vs Elundini 0 Playoffs 5-6 Dumani 2 vs Siyaphambili 0 Playoffs 7-8 Mpumalanga 2 vs Fumisikoma 0 Playoffs 9 -10 Ikhwezelihle 0 vs Elufefeni 1 Boys’ finals: Enkwenkwezini 0 vs Melisizwe 0 (Enkwenkwezini won 3-0 on penalties) 3rd & 4th Elundini 0 vs Mpumalanga 1 Playoffs 5-6 Zanoxolo 1 vs Ikhwezelihle 0 Playoffs 7-8 Dumani 2 vs Fumisikoma 1 Playoffs 9-10 Elufefeni 1 vs Siyaphambili 0

‘ We teach kids both soccer and life skills