NEW WORDS TO LEARN
- Exhilarating (adj) Very exciting
- Astounded (adj) Shocked or greatly surprised
- Rowdy (adj) Noisy, disruptive or disorderly
Siya is 10 years old and lives in Green Point in Cape Town. He loves playing soccer more than anything else in the world and dreams of one day being a professional soccer player. He even has pictures of his soccer heroes plastered all over his bedroom walls.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Siya goes to soccer practice at his local club. He has lots of friends at the club and soccer practice is his favourite part of the week. Siya’s coach, Mr Rudman, makes the team run through lots of different training techniques, such as dribbling the ball along a line of beacons, or kicking it to a partner while running up and down the soccer field.
One afternoon, after a very tiring practice, Coach Rudman announced that Siya was going to be the team captain at the next tournament. Siya was over the moon, and when he told his mom and dad after practice, they were so proud of him they took him out for supper to celebrate.
Siya’s team plays matches on Saturdays, and every week his parents come to watch him play. Matches are always nerve-racking but when he hears his parents cheering for him on the sidelines, he always feels better.
The tournament started off really well. Siya’s team won their first game. Siya plays striker, just like his hero Fernando Torres, who plays for Liverpool and Spain. Strikers usually score the goals, and Siya does just that!
After an exhilarating tournament that took place over six weeks, Siya’s team had made it to the final. They beat the opposing team 3-0, and Siya scored two of those goals. The crowd went wild as the final whistle was blown, and Siya and his teammates hugged one another with excitement and happiness. As Coach Rudman presented Siya with the trophy, he made a special announcement.
‘Listen up boys,’ he said. ‘As you know, South Africa is hosting the soccer World Cup this year. To celebrate winning the tournament, we are taking all of you to watch a World Cup game at Cape Town stadium. And that’s not all, we’re also taking you for a special tour of the stadium next week.’
Siya and his teammates stood in stunned silence for at least a minute while the big news sunk in, and then suddenly they all began to jump around and talk excitedly. That night, Siya couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about being at the stadium and learning all about how it was built, and he definitely couldn’t wait to be watching a live game along with thousands and thousands of other fans.
That following Saturday morning, Siya woke up before the sun had even risen. He just could not wait any longer! He quickly got dressed and proudly put on his Bafana Bafana supporter shirt, then ran to wake up his parents. He didn’t want to be late for the stadium tour! Siya had watched the construction of the Cape Town stadium from his home since the builders had started back in March 2007. He had always wondered what it would be like to see inside and now he was about to find out.
Find out in the July issue of Kids SuperClub!
