adminThe silver jubilee tournament is set to get under way tomorrow with the vetting of players and will run until Sunday.
The competition is being hosted by Sakubva 1 High.
Mzingwane and Vainona are the defending champions in the boys’ and girls’ categories.
Each category will feature 12 schools and they have been sorted into four groups of three with the boys’ group A made up of defending champions Mzingwane, Ngezi Barracks and Zvishavane.
Gaza, Hwange and Gifford will battle it out in group B while Sakubva takes on Mwenezi and Chemhanza in group C.
The boys’ competition will be completed by Gwanda, Howard and Churchill in group D.
In the girls’ section Vainona will take on Mosi-a-Tunya and Silonga in Group A while Sakubva, Matinunura and Rutanhira make up Group B.
Group C is made up of Mbare High, Sodbury and Masocha. Rukweza St Francis and Chidyamakono are in Group D.
Vainona are the holders of the girls’ title, having first clinched the title in 2011 when the girls’ tournament was introduced.
Coca-Cola senior franchise brand manager Mona Karingi said Mapeza, Maringwa and Muhoni, who is a former Sakubva 1 High student, have confirmed their presence at the event.
Karingi said they were looking forward to a tough competition with some schools making a comeback from last year’s event.
The boys’ tournament will celebrate their silver jubilee while the girls’ event will be running for a third straight year.
“I think people are expecting a very good silver jubilee tournament and a good third year tournament for girls,” said Karingi.
“Some of the teams are coming back from last year’s tournament.
“In the boys section there are two schools, Mzingwane and Hwange.
“Churchill, who have had a lot of wins before, and other very strong schools like Mwenezi, are also coming, so it’s going to be tight competition. And in the girls’ section there are five schools – Vainona, Silonga, Masocha, Matinunura and Chidyamakono. Vainona and Selonga have been there for three years since the tournament began.”
Karingi said the dominance by some of the schools in this tournament was because of the exposure they keep getting at this level of the game.
“If you look at how they progress to the finals, all had to play the provincial finals and the scores were very close with some winning on penalty shootouts.
“It’s only that they are becoming technically sounder, so that is where the difference is,” said Karingi.
Winners in the boys’ competition will get US$6 500 and the runners-up will walk away with US$5 500.
For the girls, the winners will pocket US$3 000 while the runners-up will get US$2 500.
Copa Coca-Cola has over the years produced some of the best footballers in the country such as Peter Ndlovu, Ovidy Karuru, Knowledge Musona and Washington Arubi.
Online Reporter