Street soccer tournament to kick off at Tembisa Plaza

In a drive to promote street soccer, Sikhosana Shabangu Foundation will host a first-of-its-kind street soccer tournament scheduled to kick-off this Saturday at the Tembisa Plaza.

Carefully explaining this concept, Peace Shabangu, tournament director, said this is just a social competition aimed at promoting this particular sporting category, while at the same time promoting a healthy lifestyle.

“This tournament is open for those 18 years and older. The age restriction is to allow unfit players to participate. This will create a socially competitive environment for the non-training players to approach the game with the right attitude and the right spirit. Street soccer is not only about the love of soccer, but we want to also encourage healthy living, team work, sharing, thinking on the run and coordination,” explained Shabangu.

He said the tournament creates an opportunity for players to increase self-confidence and self-esteem, and also to help reduce anxiety.

“The tournament is in partnership with South African Responsible Gambling Foundation. The format of the tournament is a group round-robin, which will be 10 minutes each half consisting of four groups. They will then enter the knock-out stage, where two games will be played simultaneously.

“Thereafter, 32 games will be played in one day,” he explained. This tournament will be played in eight different townships, namely, Tembisa, Daveyton, Evaton, Alexandra, Diepsloot, Soweto, KwaThema and Pretoria.

Each of these areas will produce one finalist who will go all the way to the final showdown scheduled for November 2 in Tembisa.

Up for grabs is R10 000 prize money for the champions and a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Russia, all expenses paid.

“Remember, space is limited for 16 teams per area and to register teams are required to pay a R100 fee. For more information, I am available on 078 290 8497,” concluded Shabangu.

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