GEORGE-NEWS - Over the last 8 months, Saturday mor-nings have seen the Rooirivier soccer fields swarming with our young soccer talent.
It is a delight to see so many young boys from diverse walks of life taking part together in team sports and achieving one more step toward their dreams of taking part on a professional level one day.
A great deal of hard work from the volunteers who comprise the George United Football Club has gone into activities that take place on the fields almost every weekend, and for the spectators the games have been packed with as much action as the upcoming World Cup event promises to deliver.
The coaches who volunteer their services to teach the boys (and girls) that represent the various teams have delivered a great service to these children and we as a community could learn a great deal from what it means to serve others toward a better South Africa for all people.

Each team has worked very hard against their rivals and even without the medals that were handed out to the league champions on 1 May. Each child should be commended for the determination showed on the field and their commitment to the beautiful game.

The Rovers are special
A very special mention needs to be made of one specific team that has delivered consistently great soccer over this George United League 2009/2010. The Rovers, under 15 league champions, dominated the league games throughout and are a great representation of what our SA sports teams should look like in terms of integration. Their team consists of boys from all sectors of the George (and even Knysna) communities, representing our rainbow nation perfectly. Watching these boys communicate across language barriers through the game of soccer has been most entertaining and inspiring for all involved with Rovers.

The amount of support for this team, garnered from our community and from Cape Town has been immense. Bright Idea Projects in George sponsored the kit for the boys and FNB the blue warm-up shirts that Rovers could be seen wearing at the League award ceremony.
Siya Rasha Freight International (Cape Town) purchased bicycles for four of the boys who walk from their homes in Thembalethu to the Rooirivier soccer fields four times a week - their commitment to their team and their game is amazing - whether the sun is shining or the rain is pouring, these four boys are always at practice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and they wouldn’t dream of not showing up for a match on Saturdays.

Exciting buildup
The buildup to the final game for the League between the Rovers and the Eagles was very exciting and both teams played extremely hard, as was to be expected between two very worthy adversaries. The Eagles coach and his boys were extremely gracious toward Rovers for their win and it has to be said that the boys in these two teams are good friends when not engaging each other on the soccer field. The group huddle at the end of the game was a sight to behold with the coach leading the boys in a round of applause for both teams.
It was a very proud moment for all involved.
At a private award ceremony on Saturday night, the boys were given their own mini versions of the world cup trophy sponsored again by Bright Idea Projects. The four boys who walk from Thembalethu for their soccer practice received their brand-new bicycles sponsored by Siya Rasha Freight International who were blown away by the dedication shown by these children.

Coach N Mpondo, a security guard for a private company in George (when he is not coaching the boys), has poured his heart into this team and is so proud not only of the win in the League tournament but ultimately holds each boy’s achievement up as a representation of what we can all do with some commitment and effort.



The Rovers team with their under 15 league medals.