Jack Chileshe Academy and Football Chance were on 23rd August crowned as the 2019 Under-17 Annual Children’s Cup and Educational Festival Champions in the Boys and Girls categories respectively at a fully packed Prince Takamado Football Grounds in Bauleni Community.
In the Boys Under-17 category, Jack Chileshe Football Academy edged a resilient and skillful Pataki Football Club 4-3 on Post-Match Penalties in a scintillating encounter which had no goals during regulation time and had to be decided on spot-kicks.
The Missi based outfit was a more favorable side going into this fixture but coming up against a well-disciplined Pataki Side with excellent skillful and exciting players especially in the midfield was always going to be tough for the coach Andrew Chama led side who should be thankful to their goalkeeper despite being an infield player only to exchange numbers with his natural goal minder with just less than 5 minutes to play as he managed to stop two spot-kicks and was the hero of the day as Jack Chileshe Football Academy won 4-3 on penalty shootouts after the two teams battled to a goalless draw in an exciting final match in front of a full capacity crowd from different walks of life who came to witness this memorable annual event grand finale.
Meanwhile in the Girls Under -17 Category, Yasa Queens failed to replicate their top-flight form in the Women’s League as they succumbed to a disappointing 5-4 loss on penalties after a Nil-Nil scoreline against a Well-Organized Football Chance Foundation from Mtendere East in a game that could have gone either way.
Mata Chilenga who was part of the Junior Copper Queens at the recent Inaugural COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa alongside Regina Chanda who was named as the player of the match was a threat in the Yasa area but good cover at the back made sure they never found an opportunity to put the ball behind the net especially with the experienced Beauty Mushabene in goal who made it difficult for Football Chance to score.
On the other hand, the Coach Tafara Phiri and Mervis Nachinga charges were not clinical in front of goal with the likes of Florence Kasonde who is the team’s top scorer and was also part of the Under-20 at the COSAFA Championships finding it hard to penetrate through a solid Football Chance defenders including a speedy Melisa Mataba who was a busy bee on the wings were not given room to break the deadlock and the game had to decide on Penalty Shootouts after a scoreless draw in an entertaining match.
Football Chance coached by the ‘never say die’ Alfred Shaba converted all their 5 spot kicks with Lontia missing the 4th kick for Yasa as a confident Sipiwe in goal for Football Chance had nothing much to do with her simple shot which lacked power to save the ball and send her team in a frenzy of celebration as they won 5-4 much to the disappointment of the Helen Kaunda based outfit who could have done better as expectations were high going into this final match.
INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM AWARDS
Naomi Banda from Bauleni United Sports Academy(BUSA) who was the player of the match in the Under 12 final against Children’s International was also voted as the Player of the tournament while her compatriot Agnes Tembo from Mutendere United Sports Academy(MUSA) came out as the best player as well as the Goalkeeper of the tournament and walked away with a full Goalkeeper Kit in the Under-15’s.
The rest of Individual accolades in other categories were as follows; Aaron Sakala and Steven Mpundu from BUSA were the best players of the match in the Under-6’s and 15’s respectively.
Chipeso Mubanga and Regina Chanda both from Football Chance made the headline as they walked away with the Player of the Match awards in the Under-12 and 17 for Boys and Girls Respectively.
Anthony Chisha from Jack Chileshe was the Best Player in the Under-8 for Boys with Musonda from Young Stars being the player of the match in the Under-10 and Tryson Banda from Pataki Football Club Completed the individual list awards as the best performer in the Under-17 final match despite losing 4-3 on Penalties against eventual winners Jack Chileshe Football Academy who bagged a hatrick of trophies in 3 different Categories.
Fair Player and Most Disciplined Award went to Eagles of Faith as they walked away with a set of football jerseys while Children’s International was given a Recognition Award for their continuous support, contribution and its efforts towards the game and children involved in the sport.
Different stuff such as Trophies was given to the Winners and Runners-Up with Players’ of the match walking away with a Pair of Soccer Boots each, Jerseys and Full Football Kits and Balls were also at stake some of which was donated by the Football Association of Zambia(FAZ) President Mr Andrew Kamanga and the Technical Director Mr Lyson Zulu who pitched up on Thursday afternoon to support this Annual Football Festival.
This Year’s Tournament was hosted under the Theme: Include. Value. Empower and was spearheaded by Bauleni United Sports Academy (BUSA) alongside their supporting Partners FIFA Foundation and Grassroot Soccer.
FIRST POSITIONS: Under-6 BUSA, Under-8 Jack Chileshe, Under -10 Young Stars, Under-12 Football Chance, Under-12(Girls) –Children’s International, Under-15 Jack Chileshe, Under-15(Girls) MUSA, Under-17 Jack Chileshe Football Academy
RUNNERS-UP: Under-6 Apple Seed, Under-8 DK, Under – 10 Black Stars, Under-12 Africa on the Ball, Under-12(Girls) BUSA, Under-17 Pataki Football Club, Under-17(Girls): YASA
Excellent Stuff Bauleni United Sports Academy(BUSA) management for hosting a successful and colorful Event not very Easy to bring Children together as Young as Under 6 to 17 and camped them throughout the week from the 19th – 24th August 2019.
Include – Value – Empower
