The Volkswagen (VW) Junior Champions team had the opportunity to train with Bafana Bafana player Dean Furman in Sandton.
The U12 team competed against 15 other teams in the tournament and came out on top, beating the Barons Bruma team 3–0 in the finals on 9 December last year.
Neo Nkosi, the promotions and events co-ordinator for VW, told the Sandton Chronicle that the tournament took place every two years and a dealership had the opportunity to represent a team. The winner of the tournament then goes on to compete against teams from Argentina, Brazil and France, among others.
“You could see that the boys were very skilful, agile and they knew a lot about footballing techniques,” said Nkosi.
Now the team is gearing up to compete against their counterparts in an international tournament in Berlin. Their coach, David Sham, said he had been working with the team for the past two years and he was incredibly proud of their accomplishments.
“I’m so excited for them and the experience they’re going to have in Germany. I’m quite nervous about the tournament but I don’t want to put any pressure on the boys. Obviously, we’d like them to do well because they’ve been working really hard,” said Sham.
The team practise six times a week and Sham said that their dedication and commitment deserved to be rewarded. “I think there is a lot of pressure on them and I think as a coach I need to take that pressure away from them and we try to focus on the day-to-day.”
Furman said that he was invited to the opening ceremony of the tournament and had become invested in the teams involved.
“It’s been a real honour for me to come and train with these guys; they’re a really exciting team. Their attitude is great, it seems like they’ve really bonded as a team and there are some really good players so I’m excited to see how they do in Germany.”
Furman added that he feels it’s important to invest in future star players and share experiences and tips with the young players. Furman played in many competitive tournaments when he was young and said that they had definitely helped shape his career as a soccer player.
“I think these tournaments are very competitive and they’re going to be playing against players from different countries with different techniques and styles and it’s a great learning curve and it will certainly make them great individuals and a better team.”
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