Development soccer tournament set to rock
JOBURG - Marks Park Stadium in Emmerentia will be host to what has been described as an exciting 11th edition of the Engen U17 Knockout Challenge from 18 to 20 July.
Marks Park Stadium in Emmarentia will be host to what has been described as an exciting 11th edition of the Engen U17 Knockout Challenge from 18 to 20 July.
A new element, Champ of Champs has been added to this annual tournament which now takes place in four other cities, Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Winners of the five regional tournaments, along with host club SuperSport United will battle it out to find the best U17 team in the country. Local scouts and from abroad are expected to grace the regional tournaments and the final Champ of the Champs tournament scheduled for Soweto on 10 to 12 October.
Speaking at the launch, group sponsorship manager at Engen, Brad Bergh said this would be the most exciting tournament of them all, taking into consideration the new element of competitiveness that has been added to the tournament.
“The Champ of the Champs tournament should really lift the Engen U17 tournament to new and greater heights,” said Bergh. “We thought long and hard about this and believe the additional tournament will really boost the development of talents in the U17 section, which is a feeder not just to senior teams of the various clubs but also to Bafana Bafana.”
Wits Sport administrator Adrian Carter said he hoped Gauteng regional tournament defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns would not fizzle out in the way Spain did in the World Cup. “I wish them all the luck as they endeavour to defend their title.”
The newly established Alexandra Football Academy under the tutelage of Mxolisi Mngomezulu, who is also the technical director of Alex football, was invited to take part in the qualifying preliminary rounds of the tournament, but was knocked out at that stage of the tournament.
