Kyalami prep talented trio impressive at the Discovery Football Festival

A talented trio of youngsters does their community proud on the soccer field in Midrand.

Siphesihle Mavundla, Khumo Modibane, and Nxaba Kunene are learners at Kyalami Preparatory School.

They were recently selected to participate in Discovery soccer events due to their stand-out soccer trial performances.

Siphesihle, who plays for the U13 girls’ soccer team, was selected to play for the Panthers at the Discovery Football Festival at Crawford International in Sandton on June 10.

Her proud coach, Portia Mantu, said Siphesihle’s ability to read the game and work with other girls she had just met made her noticeable.

“She also applied her football skills very well, which made her stand out from the rest.

“We are very proud of her. It is quite an achievement for us as a small school that recently introduced girls’ soccer. It was a great experience for all our players.

“They learned a lot from Coach Kegan Marais who took them to practice during the district trials and enjoyed socialising with the other girls from other schools as well.”

Siphesihle also enjoys other sports such as netball.

Khumo and Nxaba were selected for a boys’ soccer camp running from June 30 to July 4 at Camp Discovery, Limpopo.

“There were coaches watching us play and they picked the players who worked best together. Our team’s name was the Rhinos,” said Khumo.

“My favourite part was playing matches, playing with my friends, and scoring some goals. My parents were very proud of me. They were cheering on the side of the field.”

Khumo scored 11 goals over the three-day trial in different matches. The well-rounded athlete also participates in hockey, cricket, and athletics and his love of sports derives from watching soccer with his father.

“When he [Khumo’s father] saw that I had been selected he cried tears of joy. He also used to play soccer when he was growing up,” Khumo explained.

Khumo’s friend Nxaba who also excels at hockey and athletics, and plays for the Mamelodi Sundowns football club academy was elated to be selected but will not be able to attend due to a scheduling clash with a hockey camp.

“My favourite part was seeing other schools and seeing some of my friends from other schools. I was proud to be selected and my mother was also proud.”

Coach Titus Tshelane said the coaching team was proud to see their young charges’ skills being recognised.

“The selections took place at Summerhill International College. It made us feel very proud of our boys. We always aim to play soccer at a very high level and to show that they need to push through even when things are tough,” said Tshelane.

“There were twice the number of boys at the trials so it was never guaranteed they would make it. But they persevered and showed excellence on the soccer field. We prepared them by playing small-sided games based on positional play, and we also focused on our individual skills.”

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