Bhongweni Primary School of Alexandria brought their A-Game to the annual U13 BuildIt Football Festival to beat Klipfontein Primary 2-1 on penalties at the PAHS School fields on Saturday to successfully defend their title.
It was as much about the camaraderie, community and team spirit that have come to be associated with the tournament than it was about the fight for bragging rights. With the red BuildIt advertising flags and gazebos dotting the well-manicured grounds in the background, the venue bustled with a vibrant atmosphere as 10 school soccer teams prepared for battle.
A netball tournament that took place on the adjacent netball courts added to the atmosphere around the field as players danced and sang “war cry anthems” before and after every game.
And, it was PA School’s U13 netball A team who persevered on their home-ground beating Kuyasa Combined School 7-2 in their netball final.
In the football tournament, a total of 10 schools from the Bushman’s and Port Alfred regions came with high hopes that they would emerge victorious from a soccer festival that has become an institution since it was established in 2006 throughout the country. It has since cemented itself as the premier development soccer tournament in South Africa.
Monwabisi Jaza, the BuildIt Soccer Festival coordinator for the Eastern Cape and Southern KZN regions, said two schools had turned down an invitation to take part because they claimed the education department had instructed them not to enter the competition as pupils were busy with exams.
Organisers hastily restructured the tournament schedule with participating schools divided in to two groups who contested matches on a round robin basis. Two of the top teams in either group won through to the final.
Klipfontein who ended the top of their group was the surprise package of the tournament, winning through to the finals after a fairytale run.
The final did not produce any goals as two tired teams tried getting the score that would break the deadlock. Both teams seemed more intent on not conceding perhaps and the final itself was punctuated by players kicking possession away too often.
Both goalkeepers were hardly tested in normal time and it was hardly surprising that the scores remained deadlocked when the referee blew his final whistle.
Then came the dreaded penalty shootout.
Probably due to nervous tension, most of the penalty-takers did not find the net, blasting the ball over the bar in between forcing the goalkeepers in to crucial saves.
With the scores level at 1-1 after nine penalties by both sides, Bhongweni’s goalkeeper stepped up to take his side’s all important kick that could see them home. And that he did by placing the ball high in to the net before running off with excitement followed by ecstatic teammates, coach and hangers-on who hugged and their hero as he fell to the ground.
An emotional, tearful Bhongweni coach, Misumzi Dyala. said as defending champions theirs was a huge achievement.
“I’d like to congratulate my players and staff for their efforts. We have now won 7 out of 10 tournaments and it’s something special from this group. First of all we struggle to train; we don’t have soccer grounds at our school …. And the grass is long.
“Our goalkeeper who scored the decisive penalty is actually a striker, but we had to play him between the posts because our actual goalkeeper was not well to play the final.
“Alexandria is a rural area and there is a lot of crime … so we are doing our best to keep the youngsters away from crime. We would also like to congratulate Klipfontein for making the final; we did not expect them to be in the final at all – so big congratulations to them.”’
Unfancied Klipfontein Primary silenced their doubters to claim their place in the showpiece festival. Klipfontein played with plenty of heart and a united team spirit and slowly made their way to the finals of the presitigious tournament.
A disappointed Klifontein coach Duanne Douglas said tiredness probably played a role in them having not gone one better, but was proud of the way his team performed in the tournament.
“I am proud of the boys, though a little bit disappointed too. They had fun, that’s the main thing … my goal was to have fun but we were very unlucky today. We did practice penalties a lot … But I think the boys were just very dtrained.
“We are glad that at least one of our players Sibablwe Mfune won player of the tournament … we will go back to the drawing board and be even better prepared next year, he said.”
BuildIT manager in Port Alfred, Jorrie Jordaan, said the event was once again a “massive success.”
“Inititally we thought the rain would disrupt us, but it cleared nicely.”
“Our aim is to develop the youth …. We need to tell the kids … ‘you can dream’ and develop the poor, the children and get the community involved. It is good to get your brand out there of course … but the first priority is the kids and to grant them this special day … that they can look forward to.
“You have to invest back into the community … and the children are the future and you have to invest back in to them, And we’d like to thank PA High School for availing this venue … it is a fantastic venue … we wouldn’t swop this venue for anything. The school has been really good to us,” added Jordaan.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, October 24, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
