Thirteen-year-old Zachary Valkin of King David Primary School Victory Park has been selected for the Johannesburg primary schools boys’ soccer squad.
The young champion was first selected for the North West District and played for North West in the Discovery District Tournament over three days against 12 other districts from around all areas of Johannesburg. The selection was made at this tournament.
This is a very noteworthy achievement as the Johannesburg team was selected from all Grade 7 boys from 170 schools in the Johannesburg region. Zachary shared that he has already started practising with his team and later in June the team will go on to represent Johannesburg in the Bill Stewart Tournament at Camp Discovery playing against other provinces.
“Normally, I practise three times a week and I’m able to balance my school work and soccer,” said Zachary who has been playing the sport since the age of four and plays the position in the field of either right, left or in the middle.
Soccer coach Herold Matodzi said, “I have been practising and coaching Zachary for a long time now and for me he is an amazing young player. He is dedicated and passionate about the sport. He always gives his all on the field and I am happy he has been selected for the Johannesburg primary schools boys’ soccer squad because of the time he has invested in his soccer career.”
Zachary added, “My family is very supportive with me playing soccer, especially my mom, she helps me set goals every year to become a better player. I go into every match with the same attitude, every match is equally important to me.”
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