Action galore on Saturday

POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality will host the Mayor’s Soccer and Netball Cup Tournament on Saturday at the Seshego Stadium.

Four netball and four soccer teams will compete for the incredible cash prizes that are up for grabs.

According to Girley Maifala, municipal recreation officer, the Mayor’s Soccer and Netball Cup Tournament is a programme that aims to develop and promote continuous participation in organised sport.

She says the tournament was also part of the municipality’s drive to keep Polokwane the sporting hub of Limpopo.

“We promote sport as part of the smart living goals of the Polokwane 2030 Smart City vision,” she says.

According to Maifala, this u/19 tournament is organised in partnership with the South African Football Association (Safa), the Polokwane Football Association (Polfa) and Netball South Africa (NSA) to ensure technical efficiency and fair outcomes.

She adds that the Mayor’s Soccer and Netball Cup Tournament attracted many scouts from premier league teams last year and this year will be no different.

“Lebogang Teffo and Nthabiseng Mothotse was spotted during last year’s tournament and are now playing for the University of Pretoria netball team. Mothotse is also part of the national u/21 netball team,” she explains.

“Saturday’s tournament is the culmination of ward and cluster level competitions that took place in September. Some 49 soccer teams and 24 netball teams took part. The final 16 teams will battle it out on Saturday,” Maifala explains.

Prize money:

• Winning teams, R50 000 per team.

• Runners-up, R20 000 per team.

• Third place winners, R15 000 per team.

“The top four teams in each cluster will receive new playing kits and R1 000 each, while each team that participated in the competition will receive two practice balls and a whistle,” says Maifala.

“There will also be individual awards for the best players. The games will start at 09:00 and the prize giving ceremony will start at 16:30.”