St Stithians College partners with IBERCUP and hosts LaLiga Camps
St Stithians College is the proud venue host for the LaLiga Camps that have been taking place on the Campus from the 23rd to the 27th August 2021. LaLiga has partnered with international football youth organisation, IBERCUP to host football camps over the next five years and St Stithians College is proud to be the host venue. The camps have been inundated with interest from youth players around the country who wanted to participate, but due to Covid restrictions, LaLiga have only been able to host 160 youths (both male and female) from the ages of u10 to u18 for this week's camp which has been fully subscribed. The 26th August played host to the official press launch and this inspiring event, which outlined future plans, included as part of the official podium representatives, our MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture in the Gauteng Province, Mbali Hlophe, Dr Mathews Phosa of the Special Olympics, Jack Maluleke of SAFA, Marcos Pelegrin of LaLiga, IBERCUP South Africa CEO Michael Bender and our own Director of Sport for the St Stithians Boys' College, Adrian Carter. Mahlodi Ranku - Alex FM's Queen of Sport was the MC of the event and managed the day's proceedings. The event was a special one for South African Football with the main focus of the day being our youth and creating opportunities and hope in sport.
To read the official press release, please click here.
We share with you the speech made by Adrian Carter regarding our involvement in this inspiring football partnership:
“More connects us than separates us, but in times of crisis, the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as though we are one tribe.” T Challa - Black Panther.
It is precisely this principle that inspired St Stithians College to partner with Iber Cup to provide a truly enabling platform for so many students on our campus and within our surrounding communities to be exposed to world-class football coaching and unquantifiable developmental opportunities. The word crisis is a strong one - but it is true if we reflect on the developmental and connective opportunities taken away from our children over the better part of two years. This partnership gives our children, parents, teachers, and coaches “hope” in that they have so much to look forward to – “hope” that complements and underpins all the excellent work we do in the classroom.
SAFA and indeed the Gauteng Province, more specifically, the football space is dependent and reliant on partners who drive and promote excellence. This is exactly what we aim to achieve as we seek to establish ourselves as both a Sporting (through our world-famous Saints Sports Festival), but also and more relevant to this partnership, a Saints Football Centre of Sporting Excellence.
By way of example, St Stithians College has over 300 students registered to play football for the 2021 season, the interest is equally as high in our other schools. The three priorities of this partnership will be through the IBER Cup Tournament, where thousands of U10-U18 boys and girls get to compete at a broad-based level, the Coaches Clinic, where La Liga coaches empower, enable, and equip our local coaches with a stellar coaching skill set to the top of the sporting continuum pillar, and finally the Iber Cup La Liga Talent ID Camps which are hosted at St Stithians with our world-class facilities and Campus.
We aim through this partnership to attract the best young footballers to our School to continuously broaden the base of participation opportunities for many of our boys and girls both at St Stithians and our local football community.
When Nelson Mandela said, “Sport has the power to change the world, in a way that little else does” one need look no further at how the 2010 Football World Cup united a nation- if only for a brief while. St Stithians/ Iber Cup and La Liga will be looking to unite our respective schools by ensuring our children are excited and motivated for the many limitless opportunities that this collaborative partnership holds, not only for their future but also for that of our School.
Whilst our mantra has been to “start small whilst thinking big”, we have a passion and expansion for growth and as such greatly look forward to reflecting in five years’ time so see just how significant this partnership of excellence turns out to be for our School, the Gauteng province, and most importantly our talented Gauteng Footballing youth.
Welcome to the "One and All" Family, a place where our new partners and friends will have many happy and rewarding years.
#StrongerOneAndAll #HopeAndLight2021 #InspiringExcellence #MakingAWorldOfDifference
