Football dreams become a reality
Global Soccer International School hosts fundraiser tournament with surprise visit from Lyle Foster.
At the peak of his Premier League career, Burney football player Lyle Foster made a surprise appearance at the fundraising tournament hosted by Global Soccer International Schools (GSSI) in partnership with SuperSport United Academy at the Honeydew Country Club.
The tournament kicked off with a set of games for age groups from eight to 10-year-olds. Boys and girls were geared up to have a fun-filled day of scoring goals and playing with their friends. Coaches Jamie Burds and Tyrique Mohidin were confident that the boys would show off their skills and have a fun round of five-aside football.
According to Shannon Allen, a coach at GSSI, the purpose of the tournament is to raise funds for the upcoming Manchester Easter Cup held in the United Kingdom for the selected boys who will represent the football club.
“The children had no clue that we had a surprise visit from Lyle as he was only back in South Africa for a few days. He was generous enough to make time to come grace his presence to the children and being a product of the club, the boys and girls could be inspired that one day they can get to that level,” Shannon says.
Excitement with an enormous amount of starstruck energy flooded the entire country club as children as well as their parents raced to get an autograph and picture with Lyle.
The Roodepoort Northsider spoke to one of the parents whose son plays for the club to get their views on how the experience has been watching their son progress.
“What I like most about this club specifically is that my son gets to develop his football skills while enjoying himself and making new friends. Ntlhari aspires to be a top striker and likes to mimic the moves of Cristiano Ronaldo on the field and it’s so impressive how he catches on quickly,” says Brighton Vuyeka, the father of Ntlhari Vuyeka who plays for the U9 boys.
After the first two rounds of the tournament, a draw was held to see who sold the most raffle tickets. The prize was an original Burnley football jersey signed by Lyle Foster. The winner was Lwazi Hlungwane, a U7 boy who received the jersey and the chance to meet his idol.
