The Merchant Hotel
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Over the past year, U/12 teams from Govan Mbeki and surrounding towns competed against each other until the top eight local teams were selected.
On 7 September the top eight local U/12 Soccer teams competed against eight U/13 teams from Gauteng on the sport grounds of Wits University.
In the final, Kagiso Sport School Academy, from Kempton Park, just managed to beat the local team, Home Boys, from Embalenhle.
On Saturday, 14 September 2019, AquaZone Waterpark was host to the annual Lake Umuzi Soccer Challenge Prize Giving and Fun Day. All sixteen teams comprising of approx. 320 young boys and the offcials, who played at Wits, were invited
The day was opened by the Mdaba Cultural Dance Group from Leandra, who entertained the players with their African Dance routines.
In his welcoming address, Lake Umuzi director, Johan Rosslee thanked Mr Jacob Mtkwende for his unrelentless work in organizing the Lake Umuzi Soccer Challenge and for managing it to expand into Gauteng. He also thanked Wits University for providing the facilities for the finals. The vision of the Lake Umuzi Soccer Challenge is to keep youngsters occupied with playing sport rather than to get involved in the wrong things. By bringing everyone to the AquaZone Fun Day, is for the kids to see a better future if they make use of their opportunities by working hard at school and training hard in soccer.
Both Wits Junior Soccer Head Coach, Mr Rainer Abraham and assistant coach, Mr Henry Brownlee talked about the high level of skills from our local teams. They are always on the lookout, not only for soccer talent from the outlying areas but also for kids to do academically well at school to be provided with free university education through sport bursaries. They gave many examples of kids who come from underprivileged backgrounds who went through their system to become better off as adults. They also stressed the importance of honesty in small things, like declaring the right age when competing, as cheating at small things leads to bad habits in adult life.
Mr Nathi Zwane, from Kathorus Football Club, thanked Lake Umuzi for allowing the children to come to AquaZone fun day and also Boesies Restaurant for providing everyone with food and drinks for the day.
After the kids enjoyed lunch, they had the rest of the day to enjoy the slides and pools.
It was a day for the kids to remember for the rest of their lives.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]