Gauteng North to hold Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup District Qualifiers

Chipa-Tabane Secondary School will, for the second year in succession, be playing in the under-19 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup district qualifiers taking place at the Steve Bikoville Secondary School in Korana Gardens Hammanskraal, on Saturday June 7.

According to coach, Hosea Digashu, the team has been training hard in preparation for the district finals and he believes they are physically and mentally prepared for the challenge.  “Training is more intense now and we are focusing on passing and dribbling skills.  We want to dominate in every game and have ball possession all the time,” he said.

The school won the Gauteng North district qualifiers in 2013 but were beaten by Rosina Sedibane at the inter district finals and according to Digashu, they are ready for them this time around should they meet them again. “They were tough competition last year and we didn’t stand a chance against their Supersport Academy players,” he said. “But every year is different with players moving on and new ones coming in and this could be our year.”  Chipa-Tabane’s dream could well be a reality now that Supersport has withdrawn their players from Rosina.

Digashu has no formal coaching qualifications and has been researching on how to improve his knowledge and skills. “I believe that it’s made a huge difference in how I coach, I’m more aware of the teams’ opinions and I give them platform to express themselves now.”

He says they are expecting tough competition at the district finals. “We are used to playing against these schools and we know their style of play. So far it’s been easy, but the real competition will start on Saturday.”

The team will be missing some of its best players who will be away at initiation school on Saturday. “That will be a major problem for us. I had to make changes and I’m hoping that they will pay off come Saturday.  Our biggest weakness will be in the striking department.”

According to Digashu, Steve Bikoville Secondary will be the team to beat on Saturday.  “They have 4 players that are part of the Tuks development team in the under-15 and under-17 division and others attended Mamelodi Sundowns trials last year.”

The participating schools in the Gauteng North District Finals are:

Chipa-Tabane Secondary School - Cullinan district

Ekangala Comprehensive School - Ekangala district

Lingitjhudu Secondary School - Ekangala district

Steve Bikoville Secondary School – Cullinan district

About the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup:

·           The tournament is run under the auspices of the South Africa Football Association (SASFA)

   Named after prominent businessman Patrice Motsepe’s late mother, the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup offers the biggest prize money at school level in Africa (R3.4 million in total). 

·           The sponsors are:  Sanlam, the Motsepe Foundation and the Sanlam Ubuntu-Botho Community Development Trust.

·           The primary objective of the tournament is to revive the culture of school football amongst students between the age of 16 and 19 years old.

·           The tournament also gives players the opportunity to showcase their skills to soccer scouts with the talented players being recruited into development structures to be nurtured and shaped into professional players.