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Keeping it clean
If you are going to be part of the Trash Bash at the Rondevlei Nature Reserve you have to take with a hat, gumboots and gloves. See full story on page 3. PHOTO: DEVON BOWEN
PARKWOOD | OTTERY | RETREAT
Hopes set on Gothia Cup AVRIL FILLIES
F
ive underprivileged u.13 soccer players from the Meadowridge Association Football Club (MAFC) have a chance to compete in the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. The five players, who are from Parkwood, Ottery and Retreat, were selected based on their talent by their coaches Zac Brown and Michael Roberts. Parents are busy raising funds to make it possible for the children to go. The cost of the tour, from Sunday 12 to Saturday 18 July, is R25 000 per player, excluding spending money. This amount only covers the air tickets, accommodation and registration, as well as a new kit and tracksuit. “My son, Skylyn, is one of the players and we are currently raising funds to help him to play in the Gothia Cup. The parents of the
other players are also raising funds as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our children,” says his mom, Lynn May, from Ottery. A karaoke event will be hosted at the club on Friday 31 January and more fundraisers are planned until their departure in July. “Skylyn, a defender, is a learner at Die Duine Primary School. He is an ardent supporter of Ajax Cape Town, because most of the players in the team hail from the Cape Flats. In the English Premier League, he supports current log leaders Liverpool. “Skylyn believes he is the next Sepp van den Berg (18), the Dutch and Liverpool player. He also admires Benni McCarthy, the former coach of Cape Town City and Bafana player, as he wants to coach after his playing days are over. He likes Van den Berg because they both play in the same position,” May says.
Skylyn is looking forward to his trip to check out the Swedish soccer stadium and to meet soccer players from all over the world. The Gothia Cup is the world’s largest and most attended international youth football tournament. Each year, around 1 700 teams from 80 nations take part and they play 4 500 games on 110 fields. It is a meeting place for the world’s youth, irrespective of religion, skin colour or nationality, with football as the common denominator. The Gothia Cup was first held in 1975. The tournament was started by the football associations BK Häcken, GAIS and a local newspaper but has been solely owned since the early 80s by BK Häcken. Through the years, over a million players from a total of 149 countries have participated in the tournament.
Skylyn May, a defender, is one of the five.