Bingo
(the) Star!
Watching the 2010 World Cup
can never be the same as having a ring side
seat. In South Africa we’ve got the chance
of really “living” it, but can you
really be an active participant if you are an
absolute novice with a soccer ball?
If you fall into this unenviable
category, Snickers® have the remedy and
they have recruited the services of two of the
best soccer ball jugglers in the country for
their nationwide Snickers® Soccer Skillz
campaign which kicks off thismonth.
An easy test for aspirant
soccer critics to see if they actually deserve
the title is to see how long they can keep a
soccer ball in the air by using any one of their
body parts, with the exception of their arms
and hands.
The average Joe will more
than likely bounce the ball a couple of times
on his head and, if he’s lucky, perhaps
get a misguided kick in before watching the
ball bounce out of his grasp.
But it doesn’t have
to be that way. The nationwide Snickers®
Soccer Skillz campaign - a celebration of the
country’s finest skills artists in the
lead-up to the FIFA Confederations Cup in June
- will stop off at five campuses and five shopping
centres throughout South Africa during May.
If your skills are lacking, get to one of these
venues!
Besides the search for our
Skillz champions, Snickers® have also devised
some very entertaining soccer games which they’ll
set up to run alongside the displays for soccer
fans to take part in.
One of the stars of the show
will be Josias Nnete, known to his friends as
Bingo.
When Bingo is in the presence
of a Skillz Ball it becomes an extension of
his body – like an extra limb. He is a
wizard and the good news is that Bingo is more
than happy to share his skills because he is
a firm believer in growing the game and sharing
his talent.
Bingo was one of those fortunate
youngsters who were blessed with buckets full
of ball sense and ample skills to go with it.
He was part of the Moroka Swallows development
project for five years and he would more than
likely have made it as a serious professional.
But Bingo wasn’t prepared
to put all his eggs in one basket and made the
considered decision to go and study and secure
a future independent of the sport.
The game, however, continued
to gush through his veins like a river in flood.
Whenever he needed a break from his studies
he played around with a soccer ball, trying
all sorts of tricks to help him relax.
A friend saw him one day
and remarked that he actually makes a living
out of playing around like that. In soccer terms
it’s called juggling.
Needless to say Bingo was
interested immediately and started working hard
at his game. A couple of years later he is considered
to be one of the best in the country.
“Do you know
that there are about sixty tricks you can do
with a soccer ball. I am not that good yet.
I think I have mastered between 40 and 45 tricks.”
According to Bingo it’s
hard work to be a professional juggler. “On
a good day I train up to five hours. But it
is not about the hours you train, it is how
you train. Some days I’ll spend hours
trying to master one specific trick.
“It can be frustrating
because when you start out you spend most of
your time picking up the ball, but for me there
is no bigger reward than mastering a new trick.”
Bingo reckons that a good
juggler can keep a soccer ball in the air anything
between two and six minutes. “You really
need to be fit to do that, because it’s
all about concentration. The fitter you are,
the better your concentration will be.”
His advice to youngsters
is to first make sure that they get their own
Skillz ball. If you bring four Snickers® wrappers
to one of the Snickers® events you will receive
a free ball, so there are no excuses!
“You can just train
so much longer and regularly if you’ve
got your own ball. Don’t get despondent
if at first it seems you can’t get anything
right. Practise leads to perfection.”
South Africa is ablaze with
soccer fever and, of course, with good reason.
In less than two months some of the world’s
best soccer players will grace South Africa’s
shores to take part in the FIFA Confederation’s
Cup, but that is just like a starter on menu
of an expensive restaurant.
The main course will be served
next year when the 2010 Soccer World Cup –
the world’s largest sporting spectacle
takes place in South Africa.
At a rough estimate a million
spectators from all over the world will be visiting
South Africa. As far as sporting spectator events
go, the Soccer World Cup is considered the biggest,
followed by the Olympic Games and Tour de France.
Against this background there
is already a lot of hype surrounding the Snickers®
Skillz campaign and preparations at the various
venues are in full swing in anticipation of
Bingo and his sidekick, Sikhumeuzo Mbatha (“General”)
– the two main players in this spectacular
mobile soccer roadshow.
Look out for the Snickers®
Skillz campaign at the following venues:
Gauteng
19 and 20 May: North West University Vaal Triangle
21 and 22 May: UJ Soweto Campus
4th and 5th May: Wits
KZN
6 and 7 May: University of KZN Westville
Western Cape
13 and 14 May: UCT
Snickers® Soccer Skillz shopping
centre schedule:
Gauteng
23 and 24 May: Jabulani
KZN
9 and 10 May: Gateway and Umlazi
Western Cape
16 and 17 May: Tyger Valley and Kayalitsha
