It was indeed a great victory as the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Midlands soccer team won third position and walked away with R7000 cash at the third annual Msunduzi Mayoral Easter Soccer tournament.
The tournament was held at Northdale Stadium, from 29 March 2024 to 1 April 2024. It was sponsored by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gagasi FM, KFC, aQuelle’ and Royal AM Football Club.
To promote transparency, the Msunduzi Municipality issued a public notice on their social media platforms where they stated the requirements for the teams that are interested to partake. The aim of the tournament was to bring together multiple clubs from across the Msunduzi Municipality to compete against each other with a primary objective of fostering collaboration and unity among the city’s youth, thereby contributing to the creation of a dynamic and inclusive community.
DUT Midlands FC Football Manager: Aphiwe Mbambo who is currently doing his final year at DUT for his Diploma for ICT in Business Analysis, expressed his excitement on team’s achievement.
“The team is excited and happy for taking the chance and winning, this shows that with more training we are more than capable of winning first position. The dedication of the team that was done during the preparations for the last three weeks has finally paid off. I would also like to extend a special congratulations to one of our players, Iviwe Dodidi, who has been selected by the Royal AM MDC teams to have a week session with them as one of the good players,” he said.
Furthermore, Mbambo expressed that he always encourages the players to align with the DUT Living Values, which was also one of the reasons that prompted more interest from students to participate in the tournament as the Msunduzi Municipality displayed transparency, fairness and professionalism in everything.
DUT Sport Officer: Mr Michael Mbatha mentioned that the team was established last year and it was their first time playing in the SAB league and obtaining third position shows that with more training they can achieve a lot.
“Firstly, I would like to thank the players for dedicating the holidays for the tournament and sacrificing spending time with their families. Congratulations to them on this award. The institution plans on participating in the Varsity Cup and such achievements gives us enough confidence that we have a number of good players that can compete,” said Mr Mbatha.
During the finals, the Msunduzi Municipality Mayor Councillor: Mzimkhulu Thebolla highlighted that the tournament acknowledges the diverse composition of the soccer community and advocates for equitable opportunities across all demographics within the sport.
He further explained that through the platform of sports, particularly soccer, the tournament serves as a means to combat social ills such as youth delinquency, substance abuse, and crime.
“The number of participants has increased since we started this tournament. In 2022 we had eight teams, then in 2023 16 to 18 teams and this year 23 teams as well as 10 ladies football teams participated. This shows that there is indeed growth and the municipality will eventually achieve the long-term goal of this initiative. We still have so many plans for the future and we hope that more teams are going to be able to participate. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone that contributed in ensuring that the tournament was a success,” he said.
Pictured: The DUT Midlands soccer team.
Zanele Mashaba
