The third edition of the Snekeneke Pre-Festive Games will be bigger and better. 32 football development teams from Soweto and other areas will be vying for the R200 000 first prize.
Organisers are expecting bigger crowds this year in a tournament dubbed the World Cup of Kasi football. This is a township football tournament with a difference. It only features top and successful teams from various areas that have won something in the past few months.
The tournament involves teams from Soweto and surrounding areas, Ekurhuleni, Vaal, and Mogale City.
It will run from the 29th of October, with the final to be staged on the 20th of November.
The matches will only be played on weekends, and strictly on a knockout basis from the onset.
Tournament co-founder Tshediso Leshaba says, “Snekeneke pre-festive games is a Kasi tournament that brings together winners of all tournaments or most tournaments in the township. It’s really about how do we give back to Sankepark and Soweto and other surrounding Kasis and townships so that’s the main aim but the other bigger aim around it is how do we ensure that players that are not in the professional set-up are still getting the right exposure and get scouted at the games.”
This football tournament is more than the prize money involved. It is also intended to address several issues that deal with social cohesion, and the upliftment of the local community.
Leshaba adds, “The main message for us is let’s bring hope into the townships that are previously disadvantaged, let’s bring hope to the kids that have not received the opportunity to play in the professional set-ups. Let’s give hope to the businesses that have been unable to establish their own franchises or the big pubs like the one we are in and let’s bring them together in one space and give them hope that this is an opportunity for you to sell yourself.”
The games are also aimed at helping to fight the scourge of gender-based violence in the local communities. Organisers also work alongside an organisation known as Soweto Young Men United.
Soweto Young Men United’s Thabo Motsitsi says “Soweto young men united is a group of young men from Soweto all of us we stay in Soweto while we were seating around the fire we decided to discuss issues that men are facing day in and day out. So we realised that men don’t have a space where they can talk where there are only men. You only get these organisations that focus on women 90% of them. So we decided as men that we can have our own space where we can discuss our own issues that we deal with day in and day out”.
Last year’s winners, AT Mambas, are determined to defend their title.
The prize money for the winners has increased from R150 000 to a whopping R200 000 this year.
AT Mambas’ Coach Eugene Chauke says, “We are happy to be part of this tournament once again so us being the defending champions we are willing to give our best going forward and we promise our supporters that we are going to defend this one for them. we gonna keep giving people the football that they know we usually give them they should not expect a changed team, the team is still going to play the same way.”
The team that finishes as runner-up will pocket R70-000. The event is expected to continue attracting various football scouts from professional teams in South Africa.
After being established during the challenging times of Covid-19 in 2020, this Kasi football tournament is expected to attract much bigger crowds this year.
