The Investec DreamPlay programme finals will take place on Sunday, 3 April 2016 at the Erica Park Stadium in Belhar, Cape Town.
Investec has embarked on a partnership with FC Cape Town. The Investec DreamPlay programme is this partnership’s development initiative involving 56 local U17 teams. It aims to identify and grow talent through specialised training, uplift communities through sport and bring additional world-class sporting activity to Cape Town.
The Investec DreamPlay programme officially kicked off on Thursday 25 February 2016. To start, it saw 56 SAFA Cape Town-affiliated community clubs sign the inaugural Investec DreamPlay charter. The games began. To start the process of unearthing brand new talent, playoffs took place on 12 and 13 March 2016, resulting in 16 teams qualifying for this weekend’s Investec DreamPlay tournament finals.
The Super 16 teams are:
• Stephanian Ottery
• Strandfontein AFC
• Zimasa FC
• Clover FC
• Winners Park FC
• Project Playground (PPG)
• Mobz Academy
• XI Swallows FC
• Lansdowne FC
•JMI Cape Town
• Joburg Strikers
• Bishop Lavis FC
• Trinitarians FC
• KTC All Stars FC
• SAFA CPT Select Team (top players selected from the 56 teams that took part in the DreamPlay playoffs)
• Anchor Comprehensive School (winners of the Investec Soccer League 2015, an Investec-supported tournament that takes place each year among 20 Soweto schools).
Kick off for the Super 16 is on Saturday 2 April at 10h00 with the last match starting at 16h00. Sunday’s action starts at 09h00, with the plate final at 14h00. Then comes the highly contested Champs Final at 15h00 at Erica Park Stadium in the Western Cape.
“For us as SAFA CT, it has been overwhelming to see a professional club embrace community football the way FC Cape Town has done through this Investec DreamPlay Programme. We did not hesitate to endorse the programme and the tournament when we realised the ongoing benefits that the affiliated 56 clubs, and SAFA CT as a collective, would enjoy. We wish all teams the best of luck, particularly the players who end up being selected for the Investec Elite Academy,’’ – Norman Arendse, SAFA Cape Town.
Founder of the vision of the Investec DreamPlay programme, John Comitis: “One must never underestimate the power of community football. Embarking on this Investec DreamPlay Programme has opened up an avenue to reach players from the backstreet football of our townships which will unearth, what I believe, future superstars. 56 clubs battled away at the playoffs mid-March which resulted in the strongest 14 featuring in the inaugural Investec DreamPlay tournament this weekend. The prize money is big. The stage has been set. The 20 best talents on the day will enter into the Investec Elite academy… that’s DreamPlay.”
“The Investec DreamPlay programme aims to provide a platform and expertise for players to go from the streets of township football to clubs in Europe.” – Janet Larsen, Investec South Africa.
About the trophies
Marina Walsh was commissioned by Investec to create trophies for the youth playing a football event in April 2016 in the Cape. Marina works from a home studio and is proficient in many sculptural techniques. She teaches privately and is a full-time artist and sculptor.
The inspiration was football, the game and team players. Each trophy was given a title, which then became the theme for each sculpture, namely: Best Goalkeeper of the tournament, Player of the tournament, Tournament winners, Top goal scorer of the tournament as well as a floating trophy. The floating trophy was inspired by the idea of youngsters chasing a ball. The other art pieces reflect the different positions each player takes in the game, these being: the goalkeeper, the goal scorer, tournament winners, man of the match and player of the tournament
written by: Press release
