Coca Cola Youth Cup set for June 20

THE second edition of the Coca-Cola football Youth Cup was launched in Windhoek yesterday.In this year’s competition, 113 senior secondary schools from all 13 regions will compete.

The knock-out stages will start on June 20 and the competition is expected to conclude on August 6. The regional champions will proceed to the national level, where an ultimate Coca-Cola Youth Cup champion will be crowned.The total prize money amounts to N$122 500, of which the best senior secondary school will walk away with N$70 000.Speaking at the launch, Namibia Beverages Managing Director Frik Oosthuizen said prizes would be used to buy educational resources for the winning schools.The runners-up will pocket N$30 000 while the third-placed team will receive N$15 000 and the fourth-placed side will pocket N$7 500.According to Oosthuizen, the 2004 champion, Caprivi Secondary School, was able to refurbish some classrooms, sports fields and acquired two new computers.He added that Coca-Cola would continue to make a contribution in Namibia towards the nurturing of AIDS orphans through the ‘Goals for HIV-AIDS’ idea of donating a N$100 for every goal scored.Said Oosthuizen: ‘Coca-Cola will continue to uplift and make the world a little better for the youth and communities affected by HIV-AIDS’.Speaking at the same occasion, Minister of Youth and Sport John Mutorwa said his office had received positive feedback on the discipline of players on the field.”You should continue to improve on last year’s performance and improve on the behaviour,’ urged the minister.Mutorwa also had a specific message for the Namibia Football Association (NFA) executive committee.He urged the NFA to establish links with the schools’ authority in identifying talent.”The NFA has the tendency of recruiting players from clubs to compile a national team.You should stretch ahead as the International Federation of Football Association (Fifa) World Cup is not far,” warned Mutorwa.He added that there must be a strategic plan to put together a team to participate in the 2010 World Cup qualifying rounds.”Even if we do not qualify for the World Cup in South Africa, we must play the qualifying rounds,” said the minister, adding that he wanted to see a national Namibian team selected on merit and reflecting the national demography.However, none of the NFA executive members were present at the launch.Also in attendance was Namibia Sport Commission Chief Administrator Rusten Mogane, Director of Sports Vetumbuavi Veii and members of various sport codes as well as 2004 Khomas champions, Jan Jonker Afrikaner Secondary School.- NampaThe regional champions will proceed to the national level, where an ultimate Coca-Cola Youth Cup champion will be crowned.The total prize money amounts to N$122 500, of which the best senior secondary school will walk away with N$70 000.Speaking at the launch, Namibia Beverages Managing Director Frik Oosthuizen said prizes would be used to buy educational resources for the winning schools.The runners-up will pocket N$30 000 while the third-placed team will receive N$15 000 and the fourth-placed side will pocket N$7 500.According to Oosthuizen, the 2004 champion, Caprivi Secondary School, was able to refurbish some classrooms, sports fields and acquired two new computers.He added that Coca-Cola would continue to make a contribution in Namibia towards the nurturing of AIDS orphans through the ‘Goals for HIV-AIDS’ idea of donating a N$100 for every goal scored.Said Oosthuizen: ‘Coca-Cola will continue to uplift and make the world a little better for the youth and communities affected by HIV-AIDS’.Speaking at the same occasion, Minister of Youth and Sport John Mutorwa said his office had received positive feedback on the discipline of players on the field.”You should continue to improve on last year’s performance and improve on the behaviour,’ urged the minister.Mutorwa also had a specific message for the Namibia Football Association (NFA) executive committee.He urged the NFA to establish links with the schools’ authority in identifying talent.”The NFA has the tendency of recruiting players from clubs to compile a national team.You should stretch ahead as the International Federation of Football Association (Fifa) World Cup is not far,” warned Mutorwa.He added that there must be a strategic plan to put together a team to participate in the 2010 World Cup qualifying rounds.”Even if we do not qualify for the World Cup in South Africa, we must play the qualifying rounds,” said the minister, adding that he wanted to see a national Namibian team selected on merit and reflecting the national demography.However, none of the NFA executive members were present at the launch.Also in attendance was Namibia Sport Commission Chief Administrator Rusten Mogane, Director of Sports Vetumbuavi Veii and members of various sport codes as well as 2004 Khomas champions, Jan Jonker Afrikaner Secondary School.- Nampa