Bulawayo schools to converge for Coca-Cola tournament

Sport
TWELVE schools from Bulawayo will converge at Gifford High School this Friday for the Copa Coca-Cola Crazy for Good provincial boys’ Under-16 and girls’ Under-17 soccer finals.

TWELVE schools from Bulawayo will converge at Gifford High School this Friday for the Copa Coca-Cola Crazy for Good provincial boys’ Under-16 and girls’ Under-17 soccer finals.

Report by Vitalis Moyo

The competition will have five schools representing the province’s five districts with the defending champions joining the five teams.

The provincial winners of the boys and girls’ tournament will join the defending champions and hosts at the finals in Mutare on the weekend of July 12-14. The five districts that will be represented by the schools are Khami, Mbizo, Reigate, Mzilikazi and Bulawayo Central.

Luveve High School were last year’s provincial champions in the boys’ category. Other schools that will join Luveve are Mpopoma, Amhlophe, Induna and the hosts Gifford who will be representing Bulawayo Central district.

The team that will qualify to represent Bulawayo Metropolitan Province will face Manicaland and Matabeleland North in the group stages of the finals as they were drawn in Group B.

In the girls’ category, Masotsha are the province’s defending champions and will be joined by Sikhulile, Sobukazi, Montrose, Inyanda and Maranatha, as they battle it out for the sole ticket to the finals where the province has been placed in Pool C which comprises Harare and Mashonaland West.

Head in charge of Bulawayo, Jacob Nzima, yesterday told Southern Eye Sport that everything was set for the tournament on Friday.

“We are ready to host our provincials as everything is sailing smoothly in terms of the preparations. We are hoping that everything  goes ahead as planned on Friday. Our aim as a province is like any other team going into this year’s finals in Mutare, that is to win and be the champions of the competition,” Nzima said.

Teams have been placed in two pools in each category and the top two teams in each pool will advance to the semi-finals with the finals for both categories scheduled for the same day.

Mzingwane are the defending champions after they won the 2012 title in Victoria Falls, edging Pamushana High School from Masvingo 1-0 while Vainona High of Harare won the girls’ final.

Top players from the boys’ section will be drafted into the Copa Coca-Cola Dream Team that will represent Zimbabwe in a training camp where other players from countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi will participate.