02. Who are we?
Sosebenza Primary street soccer team, who hail from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, scooped the top trophy at the inaugural Kia Street Soccer National Final, which took place on Saturday 15 September in Soweto.
They scored a 2-1 victory against Edamini primary, who hail for Mariannhill in KwaZulu-Natal during the final match.
For the first time in the history of the Kia Street Soccer Programme, provincial winners from each competing region flew to Johannesburg for the competition’s ultimate clash — the National Festival Finale — to determine which one of the winning provincial teams from Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Pretoria, Free State and Durban, would be crowned the 2012 Kia Street Soccer Champion team.
Event organiser Brad Bing, of the youth sports development agency Sporting Chance, said it had long been our dream to hold a national championship final. “Bringing teams together from all the participating regions to play for one trophy, symbolising South Africa’s best, gave the Kia Street Soccer Programme a huge profile boost with greater national presence,” said Bing.
“Furthermore, it was a thrilling opportunity for the youth who made it to the finals to experience camaraderie on a national level and the excitement of a national championship final, as well as to see more of their country.
The whole experience has been a high point in their young lives – and we hope the first of many.”
Five months ago, Sporting Chance, in association with title sponsor KIA and associate sponsors Foodzone, Dawn Wing, Mille and Supersport Let’s Play, rolled out the national neighbourhood street soccer programme to 6000 boys and girls under the age of 13 in communities in Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban and this year, for the first time, Welkom. Already well-established in the other provinces, the KIA Street Soccer programme is the largest of its kind and its great success last year propelled it into the Free State. With many rural communities keen to participate in the programme, the inclusion of the Free State is a big step towards making street soccer available to all South African youth, whether urban or rural-based.
In total, eight hundred teams of six players each have participated in regional leagues since May. Weekly round robin matches have been played leading up to the regional finals, which took place from 13 – 17 August, followed by the Provincial finals that were held from 21 August – 10 September.
Conceptualised and co-ordinated by youth sports development agency Sporting Chance, the Kia Street Soccer Programme, supported by FIFA and SAFA, teaches life skills through the game of soccer to kids who need it most, where they need it most. Their communities in the 40 regions are hindered by poverty and crime, and are lacking in adequate and safe facilities as well as stimulating after-school and weekend activities.
“Soccer captivates young people everywhere, from the inner city to the platteland, and has so much to offer in the way of life lessons,” added Bing. “The streets in every region are their playgrounds and make the perfect venue for kids to come together and do something positive and healthy. Rural youth often suffer the most, and with the generous support we receive from our sponsors, we will spread the fun and excitement of Kia Street Soccer to many more rural areas.”
This is also the year that the journey of FIFA’s 2010 Legacy Trust in South Africa becomes operational. With the Trust now fully in place, it will move from envisioning to implementation, and will support a wide range of public initiatives in the areas of football development, education, health and humanitarian activity, using the game of soccer as a tool. SAFA was given R40 million for football development projects, and a further R70 million for investment in a transportation fleet to support their teams.
“Our participation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup made all South Africans winners, and the long-term outlook for exciting, relevant programmes benefitting our future stars, has never been better, particularly in light of recent South African successes in the London 2012 Olympic Games,” says Sporting Chance’s Bing.
“It isn’t only the kids who will benefit from the Kia Street Soccer programme. Local coaches and co-ordinators were selected from each community and will receive training in coaching and crucial life skills. In addition, a team of 840 is employed on a contractual basis throughout the duration of the Kia Street Soccer programme. A national project of this magnitude requires a solid team on the ground to run and implement it and we’re extremely grateful to be in the position where we can create employment opportunities for so many members of the communities where the programme takes place,” adds Bing.
For more information, contact Bradlyn Stuurman at Sporting Chance on 021 683 7299, log onto www.sportingchance.co.za, or join facebook.com/sportingchance for regular updates.