Two East London teenagers who participated in the Vodacom Next Level soccer talent search competition have walked away with scholarships worth R150000 each to study at Tuks Sport High School in Pretoria.
The NXTLVL campaign, aimed at giving budding soccer players between the ages of 14 and 16 an opportunity to be coached and mentored by South Africa’s best loved soccer legends Mark Fish and Lucas Radebe, was launched on May 26.
Lindokuhle Nobavu, 15, from Mdantsane and Damion Ruiters from Buffalo Flats were among the 16 participants who made it to the finals, winning a much-needed scholarship.
The programme invited young soccer players to upload a video of themselves completing a specific set of drills according to their playing position.
South Africans could then vote for their favourite videos on the Vodacom NXTLVL website to help determine who should make it to the top 100.
The videos went into a selection process where soccer legends short-listed the videos according to a set of predetermined criteria.
The final selection of 100 players were then invited to a bootcamp from September25 to October2 where they went through extensive training and scientific testing of their strength, fitness, psychometrics and speed.
Lindokuhle and Damion both made it to the final round under the coaching of Fish.
Lindokuhle, a Grade 10 pupil at Hudson Park High, said he was grateful for the opportunity and very thankful to his coaches Fezile and Banza Rhumbu. He can’t wait to be in Pretoria.
“This has been such a great experience and I’m really looking forward to next year. Soccer is taken very seriously in Pretoria and Joburg, and I’m really excited to be going that side,” he said.
Midfielder Damion, who is in Grade8 at East London Science College, was also excited to have been part of the talent search.
He heard about the competition when Vodacom visited the school to tell them about it.
The 14-year-old, who draws his inspiration from Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick, said he hoped to pursue soccer as a career one day.
Damion’s mother, Nicolette Ruiters, expressed her gratitude to Vodacom.
“I am extremely proud of my son and thankful to Vodacom for such a wonderful opportunity,” she said.
Vodacom marketing manager Diedre Lodwig said Vodacom considers education as the greatest gift to give a child.
“The scholarships and educational policies awarded through this campaign were very important, in that we understand that these kids won’t be able to play soccer forever; that’s the nature of sport.
“And when they have to stop, for whatever reason, they will need to have something to fall back on, education being the very foundation of any successful career,” said Lodwig. — qaqambam@dispatch.co.za
Scholarships for talented EL youths
The NXTLVL campaign, aimed at giving budding soccer players between the ages of 14 and 16 an opportunity to be coached and mentored by South Africa’s best loved soccer legends Mark Fish and Lucas Radebe, was launched on May 26.
Lindokuhle Nobavu, 15, from Mdantsane and Damion Ruiters from Buffalo Flats were among the 16 participants who made it to the finals, winning a much-needed scholarship.
The programme invited young soccer players to upload a video of themselves completing a specific set of drills according to their playing position.
South Africans could then vote for their favourite videos on the Vodacom NXTLVL website to help determine who should make it to the top 100.
The videos went into a selection process where soccer legends short-listed the videos according to a set of predetermined criteria.
The final selection of 100 players were then invited to a bootcamp from September25 to October2 where they went through extensive training and scientific testing of their strength, fitness, psychometrics and speed.
Lindokuhle and Damion both made it to the final round under the coaching of Fish.
Lindokuhle, a Grade 10 pupil at Hudson Park High, said he was grateful for the opportunity and very thankful to his coaches Fezile and Banza Rhumbu. He can’t wait to be in Pretoria.
“This has been such a great experience and I’m really looking forward to next year. Soccer is taken very seriously in Pretoria and Joburg, and I’m really excited to be going that side,” he said.
Midfielder Damion, who is in Grade8 at East London Science College, was also excited to have been part of the talent search.
He heard about the competition when Vodacom visited the school to tell them about it.
The 14-year-old, who draws his inspiration from Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick, said he hoped to pursue soccer as a career one day.
Damion’s mother, Nicolette Ruiters, expressed her gratitude to Vodacom.
“I am extremely proud of my son and thankful to Vodacom for such a wonderful opportunity,” she said.
Vodacom marketing manager Diedre Lodwig said Vodacom considers education as the greatest gift to give a child.
“The scholarships and educational policies awarded through this campaign were very important, in that we understand that these kids won’t be able to play soccer forever; that’s the nature of sport.
“And when they have to stop, for whatever reason, they will need to have something to fall back on, education being the very foundation of any successful career,” said Lodwig. — qaqambam@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos