Discipline, hard work
and determination is what Sinamuva player believes helped the school win a trip
to Poland.
Young 11 year old,
Nkazimulo Cele, from Imbali Township in KZN, scored the winning penalty that
helped his school win a trip to Warsaw, Poland in September to participate in
the 2012 Danone Nations Cup World Finals with 39 other countries.
Sinamuva Public
Primary School was crowned the Danone Nations Cup South Africa champions in
June after a tough four months of qualifications. “We were told by our
coach (Khoane Khonza) to never feel intimidated by the more experienced teams
we faced in the qualifications, especially in the National Finals and I believe
this attitude helped us become the best Under 12 team in South Africa,’ said
Cele.
“This, together with
hard work and determination resulted in me being the first person in my family
to travel on a plane and go overseas,” said an excited Cele.
Cele only started
playing football two years ago. ‘Athletics was my favourite sport and in
2010 my coach could not accompany me to an event and sent our football coach
with me instead. He asked me if I would be interested in playing football
and since then I have developed a strong passion for football.”
Life is not easy for
Cele, who lives with his grandmother and sister as his mother is a chef in the
Eastern Cape and only comes home once every couple of months. Sport is
what keeps him active and healthy, but he realises that education is key if he
wants to become a South Africa leader in the future.
“My sister finished
school last year and is working at a local store selling paraffin because there
is no money for college. I can see she is not happy and that is why I am
going to do well at school and make sure I go to university and get a degree. I
will then help her to achieve her goals,” said Cele, who has a maturity beyond
his years and excels in maths and English.
Coach Khonza sees Cele
as a key player in the team due to his hard work on the field, his ability to
cover a big area on the field and his eye for goals.
More about Cele:
FAVOURITE SOCCER TEAM
·
Orlando Pirates FC
FAVOURITE SOCCER PLAYER
·
Lucas Podolski
(Germany)
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2012
DANONE NATIONS CUP TOURNAMENT
·
Scoring the winning
penalty against Sonqoba Primary School (Gauteng)
·
The trip to
Johannesburg to participate in the Danone Nations Cup National Finals
WHAT HE LEARNT FROM
PARTICIPATING IN THE DANONE NATIONS CUP
·
Anything is possible
TRIP TO POLAND
·
There are 40 other
nations going to be participating and he hopes to see someone waving a South
African flag and following his team.
