Brilliant third place for Potch Primary at Danone Nations Cup

There is a wave of optimism at Potchefstroom Primary due to the excellent exploits of their u.12 soccer team that nearly made it to the national finals in the Danone Nations Cup. The boys from Potch Primary took third place at the recent provincial finals at the Alabama Stadium in Klerksdorp on Saturday 16 June. They needed to take the first place in this provincial leg in order to get to the national finals. Laerskool Rustenburg Noord won the provincial finals.

The team that wins the national finals then gets the chance to represent South Africa at the World Finals this year. Even though his team didn’t make it to the national finals, Potchefstroom Primary’s head coach, Vuyo Machere, was full of smiles after his side’s brilliant progression, winning both the local and district finals. ‘We represented the Dr Kenneth Kaunda region at the provincial finals and performed brilliantly to get to that point.

It would have been nice to win and move on but it was not meant to be this time. I am still proud of the boys whose team spirit and determination to succeed even motivated me,’ he said.
There were four regional finalists that competed in the North West provincial finals namely Kwala-Kitso Primary School (Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati region), Laerskool Rustenburg Noord (Bojanala region), Potchefstroom Primary School (Dr Kenneth Kaunda region) and Refethuto Primary School (Ngaka Modiri Molema region).

Machere, who is a part-time educator at Potch Primary, has been coaching the boys at Potch Primary for the past three years and he feels there is still a lot of potential to sow and reap massive rewards. ‘The plan is to continue working hard and take them to the nationals next year. The main goal will be to represent SA at the Danone Nations Cup or take these boys to the McDonalds Cup for u.14 players.’

Machere’s philosophy is also to play and build a team with younger players to give them exposure and continuity in the team. ‘For me, the best part of coaching is to understand a child at a personal level and grow that communication and bond within the team. I sometimes learn more from them than what I teach them,’ he added.
Results from Danone Nations Cup Provincial final:
Potchefstroom Primary 2 – Refethuto 0; Rustenburg Noord 1 – Potchefstroom Primary 0; Kwala-Kitso 0 – Potchefstroom Primary 1.