Soweto Football Association and special dignitaries, Dr KOP Peter Matseke, CEO of the Clinix Health Group and SAFA CEO, Dennis Mumble, held a press conference to announce the teams that would be participating in the 2015 Clinix Stix Morewa Tournament.

This week the South African Football Association, the Soweto Football Association and special dignitaries, Dr KOP Peter Matseke, CEO of the Clinix Health Group and SAFA CEO, Dennis Mumble, held a press conference to announce the teams that would be participating in the 2015 Clinix Stix Morewa Tournament.

Ever since the tournament was first initiated in honour of the father of football, Bra Stix Morewa, it has grown in stature each year and is a very important platform for exposing and developing young talent.

Speaking at the launch, Clinix CEO, Dr KOP Peter Matseke, says that the tournament represents Clinix’s contribution to developing the future stars and leaders of tomorrow. “As a health group that is closely aligned with its communities, the Clinix Stix Morewa Soccer Tournament gives us the platform to instil and encourage healthy lifestyle habits and play our part in football development in the country.” Matseke said his connection with Bra Stix goes right back to the eighties and this is a wonderful way of keeping his legacy alive. “We need to be supportive of the youth, and we are also very proud of the fact, we have ladies teams participating in the tournament.”

SAFA CEO, Dennis Mumble, commended Matseke for his commitment to the game of football and thanked Clinix for its commercial support. “This is one of our biggest, if not the biggest, football tournament for our clubs and it is significant in that it supports our 2022 programme vision of developing the game in a far more holistic way.”

Mumble said the Vision 2022 programme no longer just focuses on what happens on the field but also focuses on life skills, trying to develop the youth as holistic human beings.

“With 341 football associations, we need to focus on technical skills, proper and improved administration, gender equality and the chance for SA to become a major player in the world of football. We are very proud of Banyana Banyana and their success having qualified for the Rio Olympics. Our U17 team has made it through to the World Cup now, our U20’s have done relatively well and qualified for African youth championships and we managed to have five national teams in camp last week! This is the first time it has been so busy in a long time,” he said.

Played under the auspices of the Soweto Football Association (SFA), which is affiliated to SAFA, the three-month long Stix Morewa Tournament is split into three divisions: Under 11, Under 17 and Seniors and is open to all Sowetan SAFA-affiliated youth soccer teams.

This year 1200 teams are competing in the Under 9 category, a further 140 in the Under 11, 180 in Under 13, 260 in Under 15, 260 in Under 17 categories and 60 in the Seniors and also 16 teams of ladies. Once again teams will compete in a knock out with various teams being eliminated in the different rounds, culminating in a semi-final and a final in November.

Phil Mogodi, the Chairman of the Soweto Football Association, said with 1 200 soccer teams in Soweto alone it was important to “make sure we keep the fire burning for the youth around the country”.

He said it was important to focus on schools and develop football at that level. “The Clinix sponsorship makes this possible.” Mogodi quoted a number of success stories including that of Siyabonga Zulu who started playing U11 and has progressed so much that this year he was asked to play for Bafana Bafana.

“We need to work hard to inspire people to support football. Our coaches need to keep on working hard and we need to inspire more women to play – afterall our women’s team is the current champion,” says Mogodi.

In a moving closing address the late Stix Morewa’s son, Bobby Morewa, thanked everyone who had played a part in SA’s football development and in keeping the legacy of his father alive.

Fixtures are available on request email: thuntsanepeter@gmail.com