This year’s edition of COPA Coca-Cola will reach its climax this week at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont where the 2015 COPA Coca-Cola National Finals will be taking place. The nine COPA Coca-Cola provincial winners will battle it out to be named 2015 COPA Coca-Cola Champions between the 24th and 26th September 2015.
The National Finals are a culmination of a grueling year-long regional and provincial playoff process, in which the best u15 school teams from around South Africa progressed through to represent their provinces at this week’s National Finals.
Fetsi Mbele, Coca-Cola Africa’s Senior Communications Manager: Brand Experience commented, “COPA Coca-Cola is the number one destination for young footballers to celebrate a shared passion for the beautiful game. The tournament is synonymous globally with developing and unearthing future footballing stars, and we are certain that this year’s COPA Coca-Cola National Finals will be no different.”
With South Africa’s best u15 sides fighting it out for this year’s title and with reigning COPA Coca-Cola champions Clapham High School back to defend their 2014 title, this year’s tournament is expected to produce some fireworks. The Pretoria-based side defeated Bophelo Secondary School 4 – 0 in their Provincial Finals last week to fortify their position as Gauteng’s best u15 team for the second season in succession.
Luckhoff Secondary School also have their eyes fixed on the big prize and the possibility of obtaining their first national honour. The school will be representing Western Cape for the third time at this stage of the tournament and are looking to go one step further with a win this week.
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Also expected to challenge Clapham are North West champions, Sol Plaatjie High School. They have entrenched themselves as one of the best soccer schools in the country and will be looking to add to their 2009 and 2019 COPA Coca-Cola titles.
The host province and home favourites, KwaZulu-Natal, will be represented by St. Francis College from Pinetown after they defeated Guzana Secondary School of Ilembe Region at the KZN Provincial Finals stage.
The 2015 COPA Coca-Cola winners will not only walk away with the honour of being crowned national champions, they will also be rewarded with R60 000 to be used towards the development of their school’s educational or sporting facilities. The second and third place winners will each receive R30 000 and R20 000 respectively.
In addition to the nine provincial winners, COPA Coca-Cola added a new innovation to the 2015 edition of the tournament through the new ‘Which Part Will You Play’ campaign which recognises that every footballer plays an important role in their team beyond football skills. Throughout this year’s Provincial Finals, a team of scouts comprising of legends of South African football selected an invitational side comprising of 11 individuals who resemble the 11 archetypes of the “Which Part Will You Play” campaign. The side will be travelling to Durban this week to experience the National Finals and to play a curtain raiser to Saturday’s semi-finals and finals.
“COPA Coca-Cola signifies the importance of living an active healthy lifestyle through participation in sport. Coca-Cola’s objective in sponsoring sport is all about encouraging physical activity and developing healthy lifestyles. Playing sport, together with a balanced diet, plays an important role in maintaining a healthy way of life.
At Coca-Cola we endeavor to give young people the opportunity to express their talent and COPA Coca-Cola is an important driver of that.” concluded Mbele.
The teams competing in the 2015 COPA Coca-Cola National Finals include:
• Stynville Secondary School – Northern Cape
• Molly Black Burn High School – Eastern Cape
• Moroka High School – Free State
• St Marks International School – Mpumalanga
• Klass Mothapo Secondary School – Limpopo
• Clapham High School – Gauteng
• Luckhoff Secondary School – Western Cape
• Sol Plaatjie High School – North West Province
• ST Francis College – Kwa-Zulu Natal
Follow #COPAZA on Twitter or visit www.coke.co.za/copa for more COPA Coca-Cola news and results.
Video content on COPA Coca-Cola 2015
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