St David’s Marist Inanda kicks off 17th annual soccer tournament
SANDTON – The St David's Challenge Cup offers young players the opportunity to receive scholarships.
The 17th annual St David’s Challenge Cup is set to kick-off and offer young soccer players the opportunity to win local and international bursaries.
World Wide Scholarships joined the tournament four years ago in order to scout talented young players during a competitive tournament.
Munya Maraire, the CEO of World Wide Scholarships, explained that this is the best time to watch talented players perform. “A tournament like this unearths many talented youngsters at many different levels. At the youth age group, you have players being able to be selected for academy opportunities in Spain and Italy.”
Maraire added that every year the event gets better and better thanks to the organising team led by Bradley Ireland, the tournament coordinator.
Ireland, the deputy headmaster at St David’s Marist Inanda, said that the level of soccer being played is extremely high and offers young players the opportunity to get scholarships.
Ireland explained that originally the tournament had just included first teams but now includes U15 teams to allow younger players to get involved. This year the tournament will include 16 schools and over 600 players.
This year, for the first time, coaches will be able to take part in a coaching workshop where coaches can learn different tactics and skills to improve their skills development as coaches.
Maraire said that they currently have four players in the line to receive scholarships including Harry Nicolau, a learner from St David’s Marist Inanda. He explained that World Wide Scholarships has a collaboration with the Real Madrid Foundation which invites top youth players under the age of 16 to travel to Spain and receive coaching from Real Madrid coaches.
For older players in grades 11 and 12, they get opportunities to receive university scholarships in the United States and Europe. Maraire said that he is excited to have a range of universities interested in scouting talented players from the tournament.
Maraire concluded, “We definitely want to grow the tournament and our main interest is to get more corporate participation in the youth development and skills development areas in order to further link more kids to opportunities.”
Details: St David’s Marist Inanda 011 215 7600.
Have you been involved in the St David’s Challenge Cup? Share your experience on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page
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