JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (ADV) – The South African Gauteng province has launched the 2019 Future Champions Gauteng Schools Cup.
The tournament is expected to be the biggest, with the competition expanded to include girls’ teams next month.
Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation’s Member of the Executive Council (MEC), Faith Mazibuko said the government was excited to have an expanded Future Champions Gauteng Schools Cup this year that includes girls’ teams for the first time.
The Gauteng Province is proud of our passion for providing equal opportunities to our young sportsmen and women, and the recent success of Banyana Banyana has demonstrated to the world the potential our girls have on the soccer pitch. We look forward to a bigger and better Schools Cup tournament,” she said.
The Schools Cup is organised by the Global Sports International in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, the Gauteng Department of Education and South African Football Association (SAFA) Gauteng.
It is set to see 16 teams in the boys’ and girls’ competitions which would be split into four pools, each containing four sides.
Gauteng Department of Education’s MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, said his department was thrilled to lend their support to the Future Champions Gauteng Schools Cup, a tournament that has become a vitally important event on our calendar.
“Educating youngsters is much more than classrooms and textbooks; on the sports field, they learn how to work as a team, to succeed together, and that it is difficult to achieve anything without hard work. The Schools Cup has always been a superb platform for players to showcase their skill and we look forward to seeing who emerges in 2019,” he said.
Tournament director Ray Whelan of Global Sports International added that they are expecting big things from the 2019 Schools Cup.
“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,” said Whelan.
© Bur-JHB – B.M / N.N – African Daily Voice (ADV) – Follow us on Twitter : @ADVinfo_eng
