Nedbank Launches KeYona Ring Of Steel - OnPoint Newsroom

A Ring Of Steel to Nurture and Protect

Nedbank has announced The Ring of Steel Campaign, a pilot project aimed at enabling rising and future soccer stars to maximize their career potential and create longevity long after the spotlight.

Says Tobie Badenhorst, Head of Sponsorships and Cause marketing at Nedbank: “The Ring Of Steel Campaign really captures the heart of what Nedbank is aiming to do through its sponsorship of the Nedbank Cup and the Ke Yona team search – which is -not only to find SA’s talent, but go the extra mile. This by nurturing our soccer stars throughout their career so that they may be able to enjoy longevity of their success well beyond the football pitch and long after the spotlight is dimmed.”

Soccer is more than a game. It has the power to transform, to uplift and entertain. It connects cultures and allows individuals to rise out of difficult circumstances so that they can better themselves, their families and their communities. Their legacy in-turn gives hope for many others to strive to rise above their own circumstances and touches success.

History holds up many names who have risen to embody this allure of the beautiful game – legends like Pele, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. And yet, for every great who moves on to even greater success beyond the pitch, there are those whose flame sadly dims.

Examples of players whose troubles embroiled includes greats like Maradona and Garrincha. Closer to home, for every Lucas Hadebe there is a Jabu Pule, for every Khune, a Mabizela.

“It has become fashionable for professional athletes to live a luxurious and flashy lifestyle and often they do not realise that when their career ends at approximately 35 years of age, the lifestyle too becomes impossible to maintain as a result of uninformed choices and poor planning during their glory days,” explains Badenhorst.

He says, Nedbank, through the Ring Of Steel Campaign Is seeking to avoid this outcome for players by addressing these challenges with the help of a crack team of experts who will guide, mentor and nurture future soccer talent on the road to success both on and off the field.

Whilst this campaign aims to extend itself broader, not only to soccer stars but athletes across the sporting spectrum, the initial beneficiaries of this initiative will be, three promising players from the past two seasons of the multi-award winning Nedbank Ke Yona Team Search – Ian Chikohwa, Jarred Meyer and Aubrey Maphosa Modiba.

“Chikohwa, Meyer and Modiba, as local soccer’s Freshmen or Newcomers, will enjoy unprecedented access to an esteemed panel of experts in financial planning, health fitness and nutrition, media training and even style to enable them to score the goal of carving out a long and prosperous soccer career,” says Badenhorst.

Alongside these experts, the panel also includes a strong support network including mentors: (Nedbank has enlisted a trio of our greatest soccer stars, Matthew Booth, Shaun Bartlett and Helman Mkhalele, to play the crucial role of mentors to each of the players – allowing each to draw from their expansive knowledge and experience to identify the means to move smoothly forward), peers and a skilled manager to guide them along the way just like a soccer striker leans on the support of his fellow teammates to convert opportunities into goals.

’Football is a lot like managing your finances. You must have a goal, be committed, work hard to attain it, and find the right team to enable you to realise that goal,” says Badenhorst.

Nedbank, the bank for all, has extended its campaign to the public as a means to encourage everyone who has a dream to reach for it. Every month, a Nedbank client stands a chance to win their share of R5Mil to make things that really matter to them happen.

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Editorial Contacts:

Vista Kalipa Melissa Douman

On Point PR OnPoint PR

011 482 6155 011 482 6155

vista@onpointpr.co.za melissa@onpointpr.co.za

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