Stars of future on show

[caption id="attachment_39510" align="alignright" width="405"] FLYING HIGH: Macassar U14 player Raymarco Wildskud, of Cape Town, is flung into the air after a tackle against Helenvale this week. Macassar won 2-1. Picture: JUDY DE VEGA[/caption]

GELVANDALE has been abuzz this week with the staging of the annual John Nance Junior Soccer Tournament at the Gelvan Sports Grounds.

The event, which is run by Glenville Athletic Football Club, is a week-long competition which puts the best teams in the Bay up against each other to determine who can claim bragging rights.

The tournament is in its 16th year and this edition has 17 teams participating, including two teams from Cape Town. The various age-group champion teams will be decided in today's finals.

Tournament director Trevor Reid said the original aim of the tournament was to keep children occupied.

"Because of the school holidays, boys roam around, they are unsupervised and get up to mischief, that is why we started the tournament," Reid said.

"We not making any money out of the tournament, we are running at a loss, but the main aim of this event, even if it's just for the first week of the holiday, is to keep them away from drugs and gangsterism."

The competition has five age divisions in U10, U12, U14, U16 and U19. Reid said they would cater for about 1700 children during the week.

"There might be scouts somewhere here, but we do not identify them as the boys will then want to impress the scouts and not play to the best of their abilities," Reid said.

The tournament is no stranger to uncovering talent – PSL and Bafana Bafana players Elrio van Heerden and Daine Klate are both products of the event.

The winners of the tournament receive a floating trophy as well as a medal for each player.

Reid said a few players had already caught his eye, but it was difficult to point out who were the outstanding individuals in the tournament so far.

Two teams from Cape Town – Two Oceans FC and Macassar FC – were also invited to take part. It is the third time the Two Oceans Academy have taken part, and this year, as part of their initiative to help people from disadvantaged communities, they brought Macassar along on their tour.

"It's not just about the football, it is also about teaching kids important life lessons that can be transferred from the football pitch into the home," Two Oceans Academy coach Llewellyn Rhoda said.

"It is also about teaching them ways of dealing with social pressures."

Macassar coach Donovan Hendricks insists the result at the end of the tournament will be "nothing more than a consolation as the tour has already been a success".

Yesterday's semifinal results were:

U10: Helenvale 1 Park United 0, Westlake 1 Glenville 0.

U12: Windvogel Allstars 2 (1) Westlake 1 (3), Park Utd 3 Bloom Callies 1

U14:  Maccassar (CT) 3 (1) Apex 1 (1), Saints 3 (0) Bay City 2 (0)

U16:  Macassar (CT) 1 Two Oceans (CT) 4, Glenville 3 Fairview Rovers 0

U19:  Hotspurs 2 Swallows 0, Two Oceans (CT) 12 Glenville 0

The schedule for today's finals is:

1pm: U10, Helenvale v Westlake

2pm: U12, Westlake v Park United

3pm: U14, Macassar (CT) v Saints

4pm: U16, Two Oceans (CT) v Glenville

5pm: U19, Hotspurs v Two Oceans (CT) - Amir Chetty