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Soccer
on the mountain is a daily activity for many of the men and
boys that reside here.
In
2004 a youth soccer development program was initiated through
the creation of
Hogsback
Lion Cubs Soccer School .
Practices
were held at Crabbush Primary in Hogsback every Wednesday for
the boys from 6 years to 15 years old. A few of the
home-schooled boys joined the school team in matches against
local schools from Alice and Fort Beaufort.
In
2005 Hogsback Lion Cubs entered the Danone Nations Cup u12
Tournament
They
went on to win the Border Championship and were halted at the
Provincial play-offs by an overage Transkei team that looked
and played like our u17 team.
We
have a strict policy to play according to the age groups .
HB
Lion Cubs u12A team remained unbeaten in the 14 official u12
matches that they played in 2005 .
In
the next four years they lost only 4 times in over 100 matches
played against
Teams
from around the Province.
In
2006 we started to practice at the University of Fort Hare in
Alice on Wednesdays and Fridays as well as in Hogsback on a
Wednesday for the school teams. Thus we
expanded
to have Club teams and school teams. The use of
quality soccer fields
improved the speed and control aspects of our game.
The
Club squad included boys from Hogsback, Fort Beaufort, Alice,
Auckland ,Melani,
Mc
Farlan, and Binfield (villages and towns in the area) whereas
the
School
teams were boys from Hogsback . Some of the Hogsback boys
played
For
both the School and Club teams.
Local
people from Hogsback initially donated and helped to equip us
with boots,
shin-pads
,balls etc. Twins Supermarket in Alice is our main sponsor
along with
Royal
Supermarket, Super 11 . They have donated kits(shirts, shorts,
socks) and boots, bibs etc. Twins helps with transporting the
boys to and from practice twice a week.
The
boys are each given a pair of boots to wear at practice
providing that they
bring
their own socks to wear . Donated socks are given to boys who
have none.Some of these children walk around bare foot and
when they put boots on and play soccer on a good field with an
experienced team they thrive.
In
2008 we are back practicing with the Club teams and the School
teams here in Hogsback. We have u10 and u14 School teams and
u12, u14A, u14B and u16A club teams.
We
play in matches and Tournaments in villages and towns locally
as well as
King
Williams Town, East London and Port Elizabeth.
Hogsback
has 2 main soccer men’s teams –Hogsback United Brothers
(HUBS) and
Firestars
F<C. HUBS practice on the Crabbush field and compete in the
“Lower
Amathole
League ” against teams from Auckland Binfield etc. Firestars
train at the top of Hogsback or on the Plaatjieskraal
Safcol field and compete against teams from Happy
Valley
and the Cathcart farms in the ‘Upper Amathole Mountain
League”
Both
of the Hogsback teams are amongst the top teams in the area.
This year in 2008 a
new team was formed - Rangers from Safcol.
The
three Hogsback Men’s teams compete against the surrounding
farm and village
teams
. They play in matches and Tournaments on Sunday afternoons.
There
is currently no official structured league though plans to
initiatethe league are underway.
With
both the Youth and the Men’s soccer standard and structures
firmly establishedt he future looks promising…..
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