Shield Soccer competition challenges contemporary soccer rules

Competitors will pit their skills against one another in the portable and flexible 11,5m by 19m dome, which weighs in at a whopping 1600kg. It will be transported from one venue to the next in an eight-ton truck mounted with a crane. Made out of steel, the structure is supported on 12 massive legs and takes a crew of eight people about eight to ten hours to assemble.

Nico Fourie of Stage Magic, who built the dome, says the games to take place in the dome will be contained by black nylon netting, which covers the entire structure. “The ball will stay inside the Shield Dome at all times and spectators will support the soccer players from outside the structure,” he says.

The dome has been constructed to allow it to fit into unusual venues such as shopping centres and television studios. “The dome is a compact and sleek engineering and architectural feat,” says Fourie.

A segment of the roof has space for branding and the entire construction stands on temporary flooring. In addition, a scoreboard with two digital clocks has also been created to accompany the dome and stands just outside the structure.

Soccer teams are encouraged to pick up entry forms at their nearest Shoprite to participate in the exciting soccer event, which will take place throughout South Africa between May and September 2009. Each team will be allowed six players (four on the field, two on the bench).

Once teams have been selected, the first round of games will commence in May in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape before moving to the other regions.
Each region will have two days of qualifying rounds and play-offs at different venues and one team from each region will go through to the national finals. There is a whopping R400 000 in prize-money for the winning team up for grabs, so it’s not a tournament to be taken lightly.

The soccer games will be non-stop action with the focus of freestyle soccer skills. New rules devised for the games mean no throw-ins, no offside, no goal kicks, just pure passing, kicking and scoring goals for 60 minutes.

Unilever head of public affairs, Ethne Whitley, says not having conventional rules allows soccer players to be more creative in their play.
“The teams that make it to the finals are likely to be the fittest and most inventive in their play,” she says.

Shield will be keeping an eye open for exceptional players and teams, whose skills and talents will be showcased to the nation via a 13-part television series starting in June 2009.

Other attractions at each event include exhibition players dazzling spectators with their skills, getting a glimpse of this country’s celebrity players and spectators winning spot prizes if they enter their Shoprite till slips into a lucky draw.