Inspired by the idea of bringing about a sporting culture on farms across the province, football legend Mark Fish and agriculture guru, Theo de Jager established a soccer competition under the umbrella ‘Game of Stars’ for farm workers from all districts in Limpopo.
Limpopo Agriculture (previously known as Agri Limpopo) chief executive officer Willem van Jaarsveld reportedly said registration of teams and training of coaches and referees commenced in May and the aim was to complete the competition before the end of the year. He further stated that this was a gigantic challenge as they had to ensure that play-offs are completed on time and the final matches played by December. Van Jaarsveld explained that the competition started around June with 43 teams participating. The finals played at Letaba Show-grounds in Tzaneen on 1 December, saw 10 teams giving their all in pursuit of the winning title.
Mopani district was well represented with 25 teams, Sekhukhune had nine, Capricorn one, Vhembe eight and Waterberg district none, he explained. Van Jaarsveld indicated that Limpopo Agriculture and the Mark Fish Foundation had agreed on a partnership to promote the game of football, uplift and empower farm coaches and referees through quality skills clinics and in so doing create a sporting culture on farms.
“Building on the successes of 2018, it is expected that more financial support will be activated to be able to host many training workshops for coaches and referees. Improved coaching will lift teams performance and this will bring about a competition that will become the breeding grounds for world class players. 2019 promise to see the first all women teams participating. Their coaches already attended the training camps. A dream to get youth involved is a step away, especially in farming areas where well established schools have big enough numbers of pupils to make teams viable and sustainable,” Van Jaarsveld stated.
He stressed that the vision of using the power of the ball to empower individuals with life skills is held back only by lack of funds. He pleaded with potential sponsors to consider being part of the competition to make it bigger next year and thanked all who made the ‘Game of Stars’ a success. Fish was quoted to have said players displayed attributes that are needed in the national team to make it a world class team again. About the finals, he remarked “We had 10 teams playing, 11 games and 36 goals scored – all in one day of soccer,” and thanked the teams, coaches and referees for a job well done.
Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
