Football champions
NKHOLI Primary School (girls) and Motjoli Primary School (boys) were crowned the inaugural Sunfoil Schools’ League football champions this week at the Nike Training Centre in Soweto. Nkholi and Motjoli both came up against Lulama Primary School in the finals, with Nkholi beating Lulama 1-0 and Motjoli ousting their Klipspruit neighbours 2-1.
The boys and girls teams from 14 schools faced one another in a tournament style format at the Nike Training Centre in Soweto on November 6 to determine the inaugural Sunfoil Schools’ League football champions. The tournament was separated into four groups with the top two from each group qualifying for the knockout stage.
Motjoli were superb throughout the tournament, winning all six of their group stage matches and only conceding once to top Group D in the boys’ cup. In the knockout phases they faced Winnie Ngwekazi Primary School and Tshededisano Primary School, beating them 2-0 and 4-0 in the quarters and semis respectively. Group B winners Lulama Primary outclassed Group C runners-up Batsogile Primary School 4-0 in the quarter-final, before scraping past the unbeaten Group A winners, Primville Primary School, by a solitary goal.
Lulama Primary had quite the tournament reaching both finals, but had to settle for second place again, this time falling to favourites Motjoli 2-1. Motjoli started the final extremely well, racing to a 2-0 lead before Lulama clawed their way back into the match with a goal. Motjoli were able to hold on to their goal advantage and were crowned the maiden Sunfoil Schools’ League Boys winners.
In the girls competition, finalists Nkholi and Lulama were both drawn into Group B and advanced past the group stage as the top two sides. In the quarter-finals, Lulama comfortably beat Group C champions Tshededisano 3-1, while Nkholi eased into the semis with a 2-0 victory over Paul Mosaka. Lulama scored another three against Thembu Primary School (3-0) en route to the final, while Nkholi kept another clean sheet in their 2-0 victory over Motjoli. The final was a tight affair but the resolute defence from Nkholi stood strong as they scraped past Lulama 1-0 to lift the maiden Sunfoil Schools’ League Girls cup.
David Sweidan, Willowton group marketing executive, said he was ecstatic with the success of the inaugural tournament. “It was fantastic to see all the learners playing such a high standard of football throughout this competition – and enjoying it while getting the benefits of an active lifestyle,” said Sweidan.
Sweidan understands the importance of what sport can achieve in a youngster’s life and this was in the back of their minds at the conception of this tournament.
“Part of our strategy in sponsoring this competition was to give the young boys and girls an incentive to play sport. As a brand Sunfoil is about holistic living and we understand that sport helps learners in so many ways. There are the obvious things, like simply being active and improving fitness. But there are also more subtle benefits that are just as important to the development of young boys and girls – things such as building self-confidence and self-esteem, increasing discipline and learning the importance of teamwork.”