EFA applauds PnP league
EZULWINI – Football school of life. Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu has applauded Pick n Pay Stores for investing in grassroots football development. Mngomezulu hinted that the partnership between EFA and Pick n Pay aimed at bridging the gap between elite and development football.
He said the programme presented equal opportunities for boys and girls with the main target being to create a continuous pool of players to act as feeders for the senior teams. Mngomezulu said Pick n Pay were trendsetters and hoped that other sponsors or companies would follow suit.
Speaking at the EFA Technical Centre in Lobamba, where Swazi Poultry Processed Elangeni Ladies and Colgate Protex AS Interladies played a two-all draw, Mngomezulu said the EFA would take it upon themselves to follow-up on the players and groom them to become feeders of the national teams for both Sitsebe and Sihlangu in the future.
“What is of essence is that we produce players of national team quality and we will support these young players to ensure that they are well equipped in terms of coaches and training to groom them to that level. Thank you so much to Pick n Pay for this one of a kind initiative as they pumped in money, dressed the players and also provided them with meals after every game. We are thankful for their partnership because the development aspect was lacking,” Mngomezulu said.
He further highlighted the benefits of football in terms of self-discipline, is the
PNP FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME RESULTS:
Played in Lobamba:
AS Interladies 2-2 Elangeni
Played in Ezuwlini Catholic:
Catholic Team A 7-1 Catholic Team B
responsibility and teamwork, which are part of the basic teaching of the sport.
IMPROVE
“Football is the school of life. It teaches the players team work; working together, sharing the ball, celebrating a victory and learning from a defeat in order to improve in their next game. These are the skills that help in learning leadership skills and other crucial aspects of human life,” he said.
The fixtures will continue next weekend as the boys enter into their seventh week and games will be scattered across the four regions of the country.
Meanwhile, the match between Ezulwini Catholic and Montessori was cancelled as the latter failed to honor their fixture. Ezulwini Catholic team was split into Team A and B and they continued with the game. Team A beat their sister team 7-1, with Lwandzile Malindzisa scoring a quadruple to win the Player of the Match title.
“I scored four goals today and won the best player of the match title. This means a lot to me. I now have a total of eight goals. I play football with my brothers at Nyonyane and they have helped me improve my football skills. My target is to score 15 goals by the end of the tournament. My dream is to play for AS Interladies senior team and hopefully end up playing for big teams overseas.”
“We had a nice game today and I am happy for the opportunity that Pick n Pay gave me to play football since I had never played it before. I have learnt a lot in terms of ball control, passing and teamwork. I would encourage other young girls to play football because it also teaches you to be brave. I play as a defender and I have learnt to challenge the strikers without fear.”
“I have been refereeing for the boys in the past games. It’s my first to officiate the girls game, but I noted that there is a lot of work to be done. They need strong and patient coaches who will give attention to each player, such as having a goalkeeper coach, physical trainer and someone who will teach them the technical language as well as its application. The girls are trying and Pick n Pay has done a great job by investing in these children who are the future.”
“I play for Emaselesele as a defender and I am also an Assistant Coach to our teacher and Coach Kwanele Dladla. I love coaching and I want to become a coach because I like engaging with the players, giving them instructions on how to play and score goals in order to win. The players listen to me and I like being in charge, so coaching is my future career.”
“I play as a goalkeeper for Emaselesele from Nyonyane. Today I stepped in to coach the B team in the absence of Coach Kwanele Dladla. I started playing in the Parmalat Junior Tournament in April and also play in the Pick n Pay tournament. I love football because it teaches me to stay away from smoking and doing other bad things which are high in our community such as stealing and fighting. The girls are coming okay, but they need a lot of practice.”