Future legends battle it out at Winnie Mandela Challenge Cup
The match was to raise awareness against drug abuse, as well as abuse against women and children.
Young local soccer stars battled it out for a shot at the Winnie Mandela Challenge Cup in Maxwell Street on Saturday morning.
The Future of Africa team in red was no match for their fellow Kemptonians in blue, the Lion Stars. The latter won the match 4-0. Both teams are made up of u-13 and u-15 male players.
In a thrilling last five minutes of the first half, the Lion Stars managed to bring the score to 1-0. It remained so until the last 15 minutes of the game.
Luckily, Siphe Malunga was able to change that with his string of goals, scoring a hat-trick.
“Today is all about awareness,” one of the organisers Jonathan Kabasele told Express next to the soccer battleground
According to Kabasele, the match was a way of keeping young talents off the streets and to educate them about safety and drug abuse.
“With soccer, it doesn’t matter what colour you are, what language you speak or what your background is. It unites all of us, and it’s a good pastime for our kids.”
He said Winnie Mandela’s name was chosen for the tournament because of the work she did for abuse against women and children, and educating the youth.
Kabesele also said he was thankful for the sponsors who made the event possible, G Fox and Red Alert Security.
“We are honoured to be here,” said Martin Phakathi from Red Alert. He gave players tips on how to be alert in their communities, how to stay safe in armed robberies and how to report criminality to the police.
“We also told them not to stand for abuse against women and children,” Phakathi added. “Their future must be clean because they are our future legends and leaders. People will look up to them.”
