Waterstone Super Cup grows football and grows community
The Waterstone College Super Cup delivered a high level of intensity and competitiveness on Saturday, the first of three days of the competition, which brings together 17 schools and over 850 footballers.
SuperSport Schools Plus chatted football with Gavin Andrew, the Technical Director and highly experienced Senior Soccer Coach at Waterstone College, as well as the school’s Executive Head, JC Engelbrecht.
Coach Andrew oversees the football programme for both the primary and high school. Additionally, he shared, the school operates a football club, which demonstrates its commitment to the advancement of the game.
Echoing that focus, Engelbrecht, during the official opening ceremony, stated: “At Waterstone College, we believe that education must extend beyond the classroom.”
Waterstone College boasts excellent facilities, including an exceptional pitch, named FIFA, a designation that was bestowed upon it by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, held in South Africa.
During the World Cup, Andrew said Mexico utilised Waterstone College’s facility for training. Their group included notable players, such as Javier Rodríguez, Efraín Juárez, and Giovani dos Santos. They were in Group A with South Africa and played the opening game against Bafana Bafana, during which Siphiwe Tshabalala famously scored a ripping opener for the hosts in a 1-1 draw.
After the World Cup, Waterstone College extended their field, turning one into two. “What we do each year is we try to keep or maintain the main field in the same condition as we got it from FIFA, and we are probably the only facility that is still properly maintained.”
Waterstone College is the defending champion of the Super Cup and, Andrew said, they’re aiming to defend the title, but, he admitted, that’s a tough task. “It’s difficult to say that you’re going to be the champion again because unfortunately in school football what happens is your team is different every year.” he said.
“So, it sometimes works in cycles, where you have a particular age group that is very talented, and in some years you’re unfortunate because maybe they’re not as talented as the previous group. What’s nice, in my particular role, is that I get an opportunity to coach different kids, not the same kids over and over and over again.”
Coaching also offers opportunities to positively influence children, not only as footballers, but with life lessons, Andrew said.
Engelbrecht said Waterstone College prioritises a robust connection between academics and sports. He emphasised that this holistic approach focuses primarily on empowering students to venture into the world, equipping them to demonstrate perseverance and to manage both success and failure.
“Sport is the ultimate tool to actually do that – expose them to real life, and not just lessons of sport. So, sport becomes a vehicle to actually highlight and get these values across to our learners.
“When we see the heartache when the little ones step off the pitch and they’ve lost the game, they must realise that there’s a lesson in that and that creates opportunities for us to be teachers and to be coaches, to show them how to manage those emotions.” he said.
The Super Cup, Engelbrecht said, has helped to build Waterstone’s community, engaging schools, parents, and the broader community by involving them in the event’s journey.
In his message at the opening ceremony, Engelbrecht welcomed all attendees and urged each player to give their utmost effort, to compete vigorously and fairly, and, most importantly, to savour every moment.
“Compete with grace, win with grace, and lose with dignity. Let this be a festival of sports where passion, positivity and respect shine the brightest when we leave here.”
“May the Super Cup be filled with outstanding football, as we’ve already seen throughout the morning, great sportsmanship and friendships, and memories that will last well beyond the final whistle. Let the tournament begin,” he concluded.
