Hopefuls line up for tryouts
More than 500 soccer players from Limpopo were given the opportunity to showcase their talent in the Nedbank Ke Yona team search to be selected for the Nedbank team.
POLOKWANE – More than 500 soccer players from Limpopo were given the opportunity to showcase their talent in the Nedbank Ke Yona team search to be selected for the Nedbank team.
The selections were held at the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex on Monday.
According to Nkosinathi Msiza, Nedank senior communications manager, only 18 players will be picked for the Nedbank team.
“We will visit five provinces to hunt for the best players to form a solid team that will represent us,” he said.
Msiza said Limpopo players who caught the eyes of the selectors would be selected to be part of the 45 players that will be sent to a boot camp which will be trained by professional scouts.
The boot camp will 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 trails, said he was impressed with last year’s Nedbank Ke Yona team and decided to try his luck. “I wanted to make use of this opportunity to make my friends and family proud and hopefully make it to the professional levels,” he said.
The competition accommodates players between the ages of 18 and 35 and is open to South African citizens with valid identity documents.
Shakes Mashaba, one of the scouts, said the trials went well and he is impressed with what he had seen thus far.
“There is a lot of soccer talent in Polokwane, but players seem to shrink every time good opportunities come their way. Players should have the confidence and self esteem to make it on professional level.
“We need well equipped players to be part of the Ke Yona team,” said Mashaba.
To enter the competition, participants could dial *120*539662# (*120*KEYONA#) from any cellphone and follow the prompts. Msiza said callers would be prompted to send their identity numbers by SMS and would then be invited to their nearest stadium to attend tryouts. Unsuccessful participants would also be notified by SMS. The registration call costs 20c per 20 seconds.
The next Nedbank Ke Yona tryouts will move onto KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, the Western Cape and Gauteng between April 26 and May 25.
