MAMELODI SUNDOWNS LEGENDS SHARE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE WITH 2011 SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP CHAMPIONS HARMONY HIGH SCHOOL

The 2011 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Champions, Harmony High School, paraded their newly won trophy through the streets of Virginia on Saturday, 6 August, in an open air bus and residents of Glen Harmony location lined the streets to celebrate with their famous football school. 

In attendance was Mamelodi Sundowns legends Isaac Shaai, Eric Ramasike, Joel ‘Fire’ Masilela, Joas Magolego and Malombo Lechaba. The two have attended all Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial finals as well as the National Finals and after the celebration parade the two gave coaching clinic at the school.

Harmony has now won the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup three times:  2005, 2007 and 2011. As well as earning the school a cool R1 million, which will be spent on legacy projects selected by the School, the players each received medals which they get to keep as a memento of their success.

School Principal, Andrew Monnane, informed the community that approximately 75% of the winnings will be spent on purchasing two 15 seater Combi’s to be used exclusively to transport the Netball and Volleyball team on their various sporting trips.  The remainder of the funds will be used to build a volleyball court.

“Everything we have received from our Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup winnings over the years has been spent on purchases that have enabled the school to function more effectively,” said Monnane. “Our school philosophy is to ensure that all pupils do well in the classroom as well as participate in a couple of sports.  We believe this is important in developing a well rounded pupil.”

To date the school has received:  a new soccer pitch (2005 winnings), upgraded sporting facilities (2007 & 2008 winnings), built a media center equipped with 16 Computers (2009 winnings), a luxury bus to transport children to extra mural activities and extra lessons, Projector and Plasma (2010 winnings).

Harmony coach, Pitso Mokoena, is proud of the schools success:  “We lost eight of our players to the Sundowns Academy this year so we had to build a completely new team and entered the competition not knowing how we would do, but it is history now and today we celebrated our win with our community.”

Mokoena praised team captain and goalkeeper, Thuto Ramaili, for the key role he played in the team’s success.   Ramaili has been with the team for three years now and performed exceptionally well this year, but his key strength was his ability to motivate and guide the team.

The decision to honour the team through a victory parade was the brain child of Sanlam Sponsorship manager, Frank Louw: “Sanlam understands the value of development and the importance of realising what one hopes for. We believe that the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup creates opportunities that have a positive impact on the youth and also provide exposure to scouts for those pupils who have talent. Importantly, the tournament also contributes to enhanced learning through improved educational facilities for the benefit of the rest of pupils in the winning schools and the broader communities around them.”