Lucky kids!

My husband is European and so a big soccer fan, so of course over the course of our relationship I have also become a soccer fan and would love to attend the World Cup someday. I'd especially love to go to the 2010 World Cup, which will be in South Africa, because then I could see soccer and wild animals and what could be better!

But alas, I can not afford to go and though I keep looking for World Cup contests to enter I have yet to find one. But I did recently find a World Cup related contest that will bring the winner to South Africa before the World Cup for some World Cup-inspired activities. But of course, I don't qualify as its only for kids! How unfair is that?

But since I can't enter, I figured there's no harm in spreading the word about this contest, especially since it is a pretty cool one. It's called the "Diski Dance Video Contest" and to win a youth soccer team will have to demonstrate its Diski soccer skills.

What are Diski soccer skills, I know everyone is asking. South African soccer has developed in a unique way combining traditional soccer skills with a little rhythm and dance. It's called Diski. In the spirit of this style of playing and as part of the World Cup marketing, a special dance was created called teh Diski Dance. It's a lot of fun to watch, and even more fun trying to watch other people trying to learn it.

With this in mind, South Africa Tourism has partnered with World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola, as well as U.S. Youth Soccer, to launch a Web video contest. The contest is a nationwide "dance call" to youth soccer teams to get them to feel the rhythm of South Africa by performing the soccer-inspired Diski Dance.

The competing teams must submit their creative video interpretation of the dance for a chance to win the grand prize of a trip to South Africa for the entire team. South Africa Tourism will transport all 12 players, plus the coach AND one parent for each player, to South Africa during the months leading up to the World Cup. While there the team will get to play an exhibition game against a group of South African youths of similar age -- like I said, pretty cool!

To learn how to do the Diski Dance, and this is for anyone not just the soccer kids, go to www.southafrica.net/dance where you can find tutorials of the five moves that make up the dance. You'll also find the official World Cup 2010 commerical featuring people in all walks of South African life doing the Diski Dance. I LOVE this commerical. The music and the dance never fail to give me a chill of pure happiness when I see it.