After 12 weeks of an emotionally thrilling and spectacular footballing journey; Nedbank’s Ke Yona Making the Team reality show reached its climax during a one hour live broadcast this past Saturday on SABC 1. Within an hour, the country witnessed young talented men transform from ordinary soccer players to becoming members of an extraordinary team which will face the 2013 Nedbank Cup champions; Kaizer Chiefs at the start of the next Nedbank Cup season.
“I thank my parents for the first pair of soccer boots they bought me, which led to my determination to one day become one of the best soccer players in SA. I come from the Eastern Cape and we hardly get such football opportunities, I’m really thankful to Nedbank for this life-changing opportunity”, said Sinethemba Sdeba from Port Elizabeth.
Amongst the studio and television audiences were some football scouts who have contacted Nedbank to explore signing-on some of the newly unearthed football talent. “Through this initiative, Nedbank aimed to discover and empower soccer stars with the skills and resources to enable their goals” said Sydney Mbhele, Divisional Executive for Integrated Marketing at Nedbank.
The search has seen thousands of ordinary soccer hopefuls from across the country, coming from all walks of life with a singular purpose of making their football dreams come true. As a bank for all, Nedbank’s goal was to discover new talent that will contribute to South African professional football. Reality talent searches are synonymous with producing the likes of Khaya Mthethwa from Idols and many others who have gone to demonstrate amazing talent and success. Nedbank hopes the same results will manifest for these young aspirants, through this Ke Yona Team search.
Anchored by bubbly sports personality Lebo Mabena and supported by Thomas Mlambo, the one-hour show summarised a remarkable journey of everyday people becoming everyday heroes by dreaming big and going for their goals. The televised production captured the young mens’ emotions and actions as they anxiously waited for their names to be called amongst the future stars. “It has been an amazing journey which has exceeded our wildest expectations and dreams. We are thrilled to have contributed to the discovery of such talent and we hope that each and everyone of these players will inspire their communities to believe that as long as you have a dream and a goal, you can make extraordinary things happen” added Mbhele.
