Fourteen teams, representing different countries around the world, recently competed in a football tournament at Lentelus Sportsgrounds in Stellenbosch.
This is according to Thabang Mollo, the Student Representative Council (SRC) International students manager and final-year BA (International Studies) student at Stellenbosch University (SU), who was part of the team that organised the Maties Cup of Nations, held on 26 April.
The goal was to make international students feel part of the SU student community by having the students “compete with our teams and just meet different people from different backgrounds”, said Mollo.
Team Namibia and Team France warming up for the Maties Cup of Nations tournament at Lentelus Sportsgrounds on 26 April. “This is the first tournament of its kind,” said Thabang Mollo, Student Representative Council (SRC) International students manager and final-year BA (International Studies) student. PHOTO: Buhle Bam
The tournament consisted of group stages, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final round of six-a-side matches, with teams of 10 representing different nations around the world, said Mollo.
The planning of the tournament required collaboration between the SRC, SU International, and Maties Sport in order to bring the vision of the football tournament to life, said Mollo.
“One of the policies we have as [SU] International is actually integrating international students within our communities,” said Mollo.
The SRC also assisted in terms of ensuring engagement from the SU student community, said Maqhawe Sithole, SRC sport manager and final-year BA (International Studies) student.
Team Namibia warming up for the Maties Cup of Nations group stage matches.“We had fun,” said Othso Nafele, member of team Namibia and a second-year BEng (Mechanical Engineering) student at Stellenbosch University. “That’s all that counts.” Left to right: Samuel Ndeatapo and Michel Kakisingi. PHOTO: Buhle Bam
Embracing diversity
“Basically, what we are promoting is culture, diversity, and [gender] inclusion,” said Simamkele Tozela, Transformation SRC manager and PgDip (Environmental Management) student.
“The requirement was that each team should have a minimum of one female player to participate in the event,” said Mollo.
The gender-diverse team composition was an intentional effort to transform the social football sphere, said Tozela.
On the field
The football tournament was well received by the student community, said Sithole.
Students were able to select the country they wished to represent in the Maties Cup of Nations, thereby allowing students to represent their home country, said Mollo. The rest of the teams were composed of local students to meet the ten-member team requirement, he said.
Karen Dzimati (right), a second-year BSc (Computer Science) student, was one of the spectators at the Maties Cup of Nations, supporting Noni Adams (left), a second- year BSc (Conservation Ecology) student, who was in team Jamaica. “Seeing all the different cultures, all the different people playing; seeing the atmosphere and the good music,” said Dzimati. “It is very fun being here and being a supporter.” PHOTO: Buhle Bam
“Our team is quite a mixed team,” said Omphile Moemedi, a SciMathUS student, who represented the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “Some people we don’t know in the team, which is quite surprising, but we play well together.”
Moemedi’s highlight of the tournament was assisting a goal that contributed to team DRC winning their first match.
Othso Nafele, a second-year BEng (Mechanical Engineering) student, said that it felt good to represent Namibia in this campus event.
The winner of the tournament was team France, which consisted of French international students, according to Mollo.