COPA 2013 South Africa Camp Kicks Off

The 2013 COPA Coca-Cola international boot camp kicked off in earnest today at the High Performance Center (HPC) in Pretoria. With all the 142 players having reported at the camp by late Sunday evening, they were taken through their paces today by a team of experienced coaches from Forwardzone led by Orlando Pirates youth coach, Junior Bhengu.

Bhengu, a former midfield player with the defunct Manning Rangers, is among a host of tacticians who will prepare the Under-15 players for the tournament slated to begin on Thursday. Other coaches at the camp include current Banyana Banyana goalkeeping coach Thomas Nare, former Maroka Swallows and Pirates player Chris Mazibugo, PSL side Bidvest Wits youth Coach Ashley Makhanya, Vodacom League FC Alex coach Caesar Maphala and Lerato Kabamba, an Under-12 and Under-10 youth coach specialist.

The Monday training session came at the backdrop of an entertaining opening ceremony held on Sunday evening at Union Caterers in Utopia, Pretoria.

The two training sessions in the morning and afternoon saw the teams divided into mixed groups of 14 players each and included improving on their endurance, dribbling, communicating, pressing, positioning, passing the ball under pressure among others. “Football is not just about competition on the pitch but also making friends so we merged the players so that they can bond with their colleagues who would otherwise be total strangers,” said Bhengu.

“I am happy with what I have seen with these kids. Our training is designed to try improving them in all areas of the game including defending, pressing the ball in the midfield and attacking,” said Mazibugo who has also worked with Orlando Pirates as the Development Coach.

Besides the football aspect, the coaches are also generating a physical profile of the players through sports science testing, a first at the camp. Led by Douglas Rathbone, the programme which also involves an aerobics session, aims at testing the body fat composition of the players, their flexibility, speed and agility among others.

“This physical science test will help us (coaches) know which players need improvement in different areas of their game. A complete player is one who has that explosive power with him, is stable on his feet and can endure long hours of the game and that’s what we are trying to establish,” said Rathbone.

The training sessions by the ForwardZone coaches will be held twice on Monday and Wednesday.

X-Tribes Excursion

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the players will go for an excursion at X-Tribes in Heartbeest, Guateng Province. The excursion will see all the players gettinginvolved in team building activities which will include, among others; human fooseball, beach volleyball and football, paintball, obstacle course and hill climbing among others.

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Team Kenya Departs for 2013 COPA Coca-Cola South Africa Boot Camp

After 4 months of topnotch competition that saw real heroes emerge from the shadows of their peers, the COPA Coca-Cola U15 tournament, Africa’s premier youth football tourney, enters its ultimate leg between the 8^th and 16^th of September.

A total of 148 players and 10 coaches from 15 countries are expected to arrive in Pretoria, South Africa this Sunday for a one-week boot camp where they will receive top class training led by professional coaches from world renowned South African premier football management business, Forwardzone. This will be the highest number of players to attend the camp after 130 from 14 countries participated in last year’s spectacle. The coaches will not only assist the players in improving their skills with the ball but also help them feel the ultimate experience of a pro footballer.

This year’s boot camp will see more countries participate including hosts South Africa, new entrants Kazakhstan from Central Asia, North Africa duo Egypt and Algeria as well as teams that graced last year’s edition; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, DRC, Congo, and Burundi. Others include Rwanda, Lesotho and Swaziland.

“It’s systems go for this year’s competition. We have put everything in place to ensure we emulate our successes last year while also adding more activities to ensure the players have an experience they will treasure in years to come,” said Christine Maina, Marketing Assets and Experiential Manager for Coca-Cola Central, East and West Africa.

The 2013 boot camp comes at the back of a successful one held last year at St. Alban’s College in Pretoria where Zambia emerged champions with Tanzania and Malawi occupying the first and second runners up positions.

The Kenyan contingent of 15 players will be led by tactician Atanasi Wamalwa. The players include; golden boot winner Musa Masika, John Ochieng, John Ronaldo, Llloyd Kim, and Edwin Okoth, Patrick Ochieng, Ibrahim Ochieng and Ian Samuel. Others in the team include Zadock Ombewa, Joseph Luchenga and Richard Otuomo as well as Nathaniel Kadenge and Hassan Ali of Malindi United.

Murhanda’s danger man Hilton Isutsa and his compatriot Elphas Shiveka also made it to the 16-man list. The tournament will see all the teams play each other in round-robin basis at the end of which the team with the most number of points will be crowned as the 2013 COPA Coca-Cola Africa champions.

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Maingi Scores in KSJ’s Loss to Tusker Veterans

Kenya Sports Journalists Team Manager, Fred Maingi, netted his first ever goal for the scribes’ team but still saw his team fall 7-4 to former Tusker FC players in a compelling friendly match played in Ruaraka, Sunday.

The happy-go-lucky team manager surprisingly found himself in the starting lineup and was slotted right into the thick of things playing as the center forward, a challenge he duly took if his brilliant goal was anything to go by.

KSJ fielded a fairly strong team with Maingi leading the front line alongside potent marksman Steve Obuya while Amos Abuga and Peter Muchiri occupied the flanks. With Vivian between the posts, the rearguard had Dennis Kameni and Lichina Musungu as center backs with Sharon Akinyi and Boniface Kasembeli slotted in either side of the full back positions. Timothy Olobulu and Steve Steifmaster Ayoo doubled up in central midfield in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

The two teams approached the early minutes of the game cautiously perhaps trying to test each other’s potency. However, with two minutes past the quarter hour mark, Maingi netted the match’s opener drilling the ball low and hard into the corner of the net to give KSJ the lead as the scribes dictated the early minutes of the half. The hosts drew level just five minutes later when John Kanyi rushed onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Sammy “Pumzo” Omollo and guided the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer.

With the spoils even, KSJ pushed to restore their one goal lead but wasteful finishing and occasional fine goalkeeping thwarted their attempts. Amos Abuga, Peter Muchiri, Lichina Musungu and Steve Steifmaster Ayoo were all guilty of fluffing their lines when presented with wonderful opportunities. The Tusker veterans on the other hand were clinical and they took the lead for the first time in the game, Paul Onyiera’s speculative shot from the half-way line stinging the palms of KSJ custodian Vivian Akinyi and into the net.

The last ten minutes of the game witnessed a flood of goals. The first on the score sheet was Timothy Olobulu who after collecting Steifmaster Ayoo’s pass from just outside the area, he glided past several defenders before rifling in the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper to make it 2-2. Ayoo then turned creator to scorer with a neat finish to make it 3-2 to KSJ. Undeterred, the veterans went about reasserting themselves in the tie. They zipped the ball across the turf with real purpose and after five minutes they levelled proceedings via Onyiera’s controversial penalty which made it 3-3.

A more reenergized and organized Tusker team turned on the style after the interval with Pamzo dropping into central defence and giving Alfred Kiragu the space to push further forward.

KSJ simply had no answers for this sudden change of play and were not helped either by poor and mediocre officiating on both halves. The scribes found themselves chasing the game yet again when Kiragu lashed onto another through ball from the unplayable Roxy Ashumah to guide the ball past Akinyi. Ashumah was then at hand to score Tusker’s 5^th goal before Pamzo also found the back of the net. KSJ drew a goal back through Stephen Obuya but John Kanyi made it 7 even after Vivian had saved Ashumah’s penalty.

The veterans fought off a late rally from KSJ led by substitutes Eric Ochieng, Gregory Mulemi, Hamisi and marauding right back Sharon Akinyi as the two-hour game ended 7-4 in favour of the veterans.

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