Online allocation for: Gauteng Future Champions – tournament

The sixth edition of the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament, launched in Parktown today, ahead of the competition’s opening day next week.

Nike’s training centre in Soweto will host the 16-team tournament as those involved hope to give talented youngsters to shine in front of their peers.

Having previously only involved 12 teams, the competition has expanded this year, bringing clubs from all over the world to Gauteng to partake in the event.

Teams such as Sunderland, Clube Atletico Mineiro and Ado Den Haag will join South African clubs, Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport United and Jomo Cosmos in the competition, as well as Sunward Park High, the only schools team in this event, who qualified via the Gauteng Schools Cup and then the Gauteng Cup proper.

Lebogang Maile, the MEC for Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, was full of praise for the competition ahead of it’s start next Monday.

Maile said, “We are delighted to welcome our guests from all over the world and wish them an enjoyable stay in South Africa. We look forward to introducing them to our South African heritage and the hospitality that Gauteng is renowned for. But we also recognise the serious football side of this competition and wish all the boys the very best not just in this tournament, but for their future careers as professional soccer players. We believe that following their future success they will look back to this tournament for its immense contribution to their international footballing experience.

“I would also like to extend my thanks to Global Sports International for their continued belief in the tournament and Gauteng as a host, as well as all the other stakeholders who are crucial to making this tournament the success that it is today.”

Also returning for a sixth year is the Future Players Gauteng Talent Search, which seeks to find the top three young footballers in the province for 2014. Contestants have been put through a series of trials and the best youngsters aged 13-16 have advanced to the final on March 29.

  • We had a wonderful football and cultural experience in Gauteng. The tournament and activities were very well organized and we found everyone involved extremely helpful and accommodating. We have all returned home with fantastic memories of our time in South Africa, both on and off the pitch, and have made many new friends as a result of the trip. I hope that we are invited to participate in future tournaments.

    Everton Academy Head Coach

  • The experience both on and off the field for our players during the Future Champions tournament in Gauteng was life-enriching for all those who participated. We were privileged enough to win this edition but what will be bringing us back in future is the cross-cultural education our players receive from spending time with athletes from all over the world. They are human beings before they are football players and enriching them with other cultures is as rewarding as the experience they receive on the field.

    Club Tijuana Director of Football

  • After twenty years of experiencing tournaments around the globe, Future Champions is hands down the best organized, well run International Tournament we have ever participated in. Bringing teams from dozens of different countries provided our boys exposure to cultural diversity they only read about in textbooks. It’s amazing how sport can be the cultural link that provides the opportunity to interact with each other and discover that our global community is a bit smaller than they realized. We had a football and cultural experience that will be cherished for the rest of our lives.

    Director of USYSA Select

  • For us to compete in Future Champions is much more than playing a series of matches. It is an opportunity to compete and contrast our level against the best teams from around the world and the possibility of living in another culture and environment for an unforgettable week, learning about the history of the fight for human rights.

    Director of Aspire Academy

  • The addition of a girls’ competition this year is a natural expansion for what has become a hugely popular event. Over and above the football, the players are also exposed to life-skills courses and HIV/AIDS awareness that could end up saving their lives in the future. We have had an amazing partnership with the Gauteng Province over the last decade and we thank each and every stakeholder for making the Future Champions Gauteng campaign such a huge success

    Tournament director