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MILPARK – Wits Soccer Grounds in Milpark were the venue for Sbonis' iDiski hopefuls to showcase their ball skills.
The action-packed Shield Sbonis’ iDiski regional trials at the Wits soccer grounds in Milpark, saw five deserving hopefuls go into the final round.
What lies ahead for these talented youngsters is the once in a lifetime opportunity of being selected to go train at Chelsea FC in London, and upon their return, one player will be selected to join the Orlando Pirates development team on a one-year contract.
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During the trials, coaches Simphiwe Mkhonza and Dumisani Thusi, and Orlando Pirates coaches, put to the test the skills of more than 135 dedicated players who brought their A-game in an all new and revamped skills training session developed for the Shield Sbonis’ iDiski (show us your ball skills) campaign.
The passion, the hunger, the dedication and the skills were all part of the game as the hopefuls displayed it all, making the coaches’ job even harder than last year.
Players came from far and wide to show the coaches what they were made of. One player came all the way from Mpumalanga and took a 5am taxi to Johannesburg to compete for the highly contested opportunity.
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“This campaign once again highlighted the pool of highly talented football players that we have in South Africa,” said Gareth Marshall, Shield brand manager at Unilever South Africa.
“The trials were undoubtedly a demonstration of the resilient spirit of the country’s youth, and their readiness and hunger for life-changing initiatives such as this.”
The trials moved to Cape Town on 19 May and Bloemfontein on 26 May, and will be held in Durban on 2 June and Pretoria on 9 June.
The players selected from the regional trials will attend the finals where three players will be chosen to travel to London.
