/ 2 November 2010

Scoring a winning goal

Scoring A Winning Goal

Winner — Chief Executive’s Award Metropolitan Soccer Development Programme

Metropolitan uses soccer as a channel for community development and to engage the people with whom the assurance, administration
and investment-solutions company does business.

“Metropolitan has become the sponsor of a series of soccer tournaments targeting players in the under-16, under-19 and under-20 age groups,” says Christabell Kota, the general manager of corporate aff airs at Metropolitan. She says these tournaments provide a clear development path for young players, off ering them opportunities to gain unmatched training, competition and life-skills support along the way.

The programme includes the Metropolitan U19 Premier Cup, the Metropolitan South African Schools Football Association (Sasfa) U16 Cup, the Metropolitan Council of Southern Africa Football Association (Cosafa) U20 Youth Championship and the Farouk Abrahams Goal Keeper Academy.

“In the 2008-2009 Metropolitan Premier Cup tournament 96 amateur teams played in the play-offs. This number increased to 134 in 2009-2010, impacting at least 3 000 players,” says Kota.

“The media refers to this tournament as the biggest and oldest youth tournament on the continent. The total investment, excluding marketing and promotions in 2010, was R1.2-million.”

The Metropolitan Sasfa U16 is played in registered secondary and high schools. In 2009 the tournament reached more than 3 000 schools and 60 000 learners played soccer.

“The total investment, excluding marketing and promotions, for 2009 was R3.9-million. The investment for 2010 will be the same. A further R840 000 was invested in the provision of much-needed equipment to the 18 top provincial schools,” Kota says.

The Cosafa U20 Youth Championship is an annual tournament played by the 14 Cosafa countries — Angola, Botswana, the Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In the run-up to the Fifa 2010 World Cup, cities used the U20 Championship to make sure they met Fifa standards. The total investment in Cosafa for 2009 was R4.2-million.

Kota anticipates that the investment for 2010 will be at least 20% more. She says the academy has benefited from Metropolitan’s involvement for almost a decade, during which it has grown in leaps and bounds.

The academy is the first in Africa and one of very few in the world to specialise in goalkeeping development at grassroots level. It runs a lifeskills programme three days a week, combining specialised goalkeeper coaching with a holistic life-skills and a career guidance plan.

Kota says the programme’s objectives include developing talent by arranging Fifa-compliant training for coaches, referees, administrators and players. Jerome Damons, recognised as the best referee in the country, cut his teeth at the Metropolitan Premier Cup.

Another aim is to provide platforms on which players can compete and be exposed to professional talent scouts. More than 60% of the current SA U20 Amajita team participated in one or more of the Metropolitan tournaments.

The most recent were six players who were selected straight off the pitch by Amajita’s coach at the Metropolitan Premier Cup in April this year. The programme engages local government and municipalities to facilitate the building and upgrading of sporting infrastructure and community development.

Many of the tournaments take place in communities that have minimal basic infrastructure. Suppliers are sourced from the communities in which the tournaments are held and this has supported the growth of many small and medium-sized businesses, ranging from catering and transport businesses to companies providing security and sound systems.

Life-skills training is compulsory for the teams and officials who participate in the tournaments. Training includes education about avoiding HIV/Aids, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy, the development of personal and team values, conflict resolution, financial and media skills.

Kota says all aspects of the tournaments are run according to strict Fifa guidelines, providing the players, officials, stadium staff, police and emergency services with world-class practice. “This was particularly important in the period leading up to the World Cup, where our tournaments provided essential dry runs for support services in many provinces,” she says.