Gauteng to host COPA Coca-Cola Provincial Finals

The Giant Stadium in Soshanguve will be the venue for the Gauteng Provincial Finals of the under-15 COPA Coca-Cola® football tournament this Saturday, 31^st August 13 (Kickoff 9am).

Eight Regional winners from around the province will be in action on the day. The teams will fight it out for the Gauteng title and for the honour of representing the province at the National Finals, scheduled for Cape Town - 10^th -13^th October 2013.

ABOUT COPA COCA-COLA

·         COPA Coca-Cola® is run under the auspices of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA)

·         Coca-Cola® started sponsoring Coca-Cola® Football Stars in 2005.

·         Between 2005 and 2008 a TV reality element was introduced aimed at finding the top 18 players who would go on to compete internationally.  To keep interests high an elimination process was brought in to reduce players from approximately 70 down to 18 and the public witnessed the trials and tribulations that went into becoming a top football player.

·         In 2009 and 2010 the name changed to bring the tournament in line with Coca-Cola’s global youth strategy to COPA Coca-Cola®.  The aim of the tournament remained the same i.e. to look for the top Under-19 school in the country and find the top 18 players who then competed against approximately 13 other African schools in the Copa Coca-Cola finals. 

·         In 2012 COPA Coca-Cola® became an Under 15 tournament to align with the Copa Coca-Cola globally. 

·         The tournament starts off at Cluster level, regional.

·         Regional winners then compete in the Provincial Finals.

·         The 2013 Copa Coca-Cola® is currently at the Provincial Finals stage.

·         Provincial winners then compete in the National Finals.

WHAT’S NEW IN 2013 COPA?

The 2013 COPA Coca-Cola® tournament see the inclusion of an All Star Invitational Team – this will be made of boys scouted from the provincial finalists. The team will be scouted during the provincial phase of the competition and will be made up of players who do not feature among the provincial winners. It will then compete against the remaining nine provincial team winners in the four-day COPA Coca-Cola® National Finals scheduled.

At the Nationals the top four best performers selected: - Goalkeeper of the tournament, Best striker/Top goal scorer, Best midfielder and Best defender will in June 2014, Jet off to Brazil to attend what is known as the COPA International Camp.