Soccer tournament a Total experience
The competition has existed for seven years or more.
What began as a lifeline for the community has transformed into a competition attracting sportsmen from as far as Johannesburg.
And if current trends are anything to judge by, the annual Total oSizweni Soccer Tournament is set to continue for another seven years of action-packed football.
The history of the tournament goes back to 2006, when Kobus Dippenaar had an epiphany.
“My father owns a filling station in oSizweni, so he would see how people get drunk and carry on over the Christmas period,” explained Jana Vorster of Zama Retailers, a chief sponsor of the tournament.
Mr Dippenaar decided to host a soccer competition to keep locals away from alcohol and give them something constructive to do during the festive holidays.
Shortly thereafter, Total agreed to be formal sponsors of the tourney.
This year, an accumulated prize fund running into hundreds of thousands of Rand means the Total oSizweni Soccer Tournament might boast the biggest bank in this area.
“The winners walked away with more than R60 000,” Mrs Vorster explained.
A total of 32 teams were whittled down in the knock-out stages of the competition, building up to a final between Sofa Sonke and Zebra FC in the main stream.
The game went down to extra time, where Sofa Sonke found the back of the net to win by one goal.
Junior Legend was the top senior team in the masters division, defeating fellow finalists, Menzi Master by two goals to one to hoist the trophy and take home the prize fund.
The tournament also attracted three teams from outside of Newcastle’s borders.
“This shows the tournament has become quite popular.”
Speaking frankly on the future of the soccer tournament, Mrs Vorster said while Total had withdrawn sponsorship this year, the support of the Amajuba District meant the competition would continue.
“This is a humanitarian project, and we will carry on.”
