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Maties to face Bloem Celtic

Stellenbosch - The Maties soccer team will play a home game against PSL side, Bloemfontein Celtic, in the Last 32 of the Nedbank Cup in February.

Maties qualified after beating SAFA Second Division team Zeesha 2-1 at Lentelus.  

This follows on a week of football highlights with a series of international and local games as well as a Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) sponsored football coaching course that took place at Coetzenburg on the Stellenbosch University campus from 6-11 January.

“We are proud of the excellent performance of our players and the dedication of our football staff. We are now also starting to reap the rewards of our Football Development Programme initiatives which Innovus, the University’s university-industry interaction and innovation company, has been managing for the past year. The football programme focuses on the development of the Maties First team, the Maties club and campus football, as well as on the promotion and advancement of the surrounding football playing communities,” said Anita Nel, Senior Director of Innovation and Business Development at Stellenbosch University (SU) and CEO of Innovus.

The Stellenbosch University Football Development Programme aims to become the leading football development programme in South Africa.

“I am confident that we are more than capable in this regard, given our world class facilities, expertise in the field of sport science, coaching and professional administration and our geographical location,” said Nel.

According to Prof Russel Botman, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU, the university hopes to create a professional football-focused environment on campus, thereby enabling the university to attract the top football talent in the country, and also admit those who qualify academically as students.

“The Football Development Programme aims to establish the building blocks of football development in the region and to nurture and develop talented players, experienced coaches and world class football administration,” said Botman.

Some of the initiatives managed by the Football Development Programme include, among others, a football holiday programme, a schools cup and coaching and administrator courses as part of the KNVB International World Coaches programme. A holistic approach is followed with the Maties first team where the focus is not only placed on the game, but also on the players and their health.
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