Limpopo soccer players aim for the Ke Yona team
MORE than 500 aspiring soccer stars from Limpopo were given the opportunity to showcase their talent in the Nedbank Ke Yona team search to be selected for the Nedbank cup team.
MORE than 500 aspiring soccer stars from Limpopo were given the opportunity to showcase their talent in the Nedbank Ke Yona team search to be selected for the Nedbank cup team.
The selections were held at the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex on Monday.
According to Nkosinathi Msiza, Nedbank senior communications manager, only 18 players would form the Nedbank team. “We will visit five provinces to hunt for the best players to form a solid team that will represent us well,” he said.
Msiza added that players who caught the eyes of the selectors would be selected to be part of the overall 45 players that would be sent to a boot camp which will be trained by professional scouts. The boot camp would be used to identify the final 18 man squad to face the champions of the 2014 Nedbank cup.
Abram Molelekwa, one of the players who attended the trials said he was impressed with last year’s Nedbank Ke Yona team and decided to try his luck. “I want to make use of this opportunity to make my friends and family proud and hopefully make it to professional levels,” he said.
The competition accommodates players between the age of 18 to 35 and it is open to South African citizens with valid identity documents.
Shakes Mashaba, one of the scouts said the trials went well and he was impressed with what he saw. “There is a lot of soccer talent in Polokwane, but players seem to shrink every time good opportunities come their way. Players should have confidence and self esteem to make it on the professional level. We need well equipped players to be part of the Ke Yona team,” said Mashaba.
Msiza said interested players could still enter the competition in other provinces by dialing *120*539662# (*120*KEYONA#) from any cell phone. He said participants would be prompted to send their identity numbers by SMS and would then be invited to their to attend try-outs. Unsuccessful participants would also be notified by SMS. The registration call costs 20c per 20 seconds.
The next Nedbank Ke Yona team search try-outs will move onto KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Western Cape and Gauteng between April 26 and May 25.
