Hillview Secondary School of Newlands East in Durban are
the under-19 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Umlazi district winners and have
qualified to play in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial finals, hoping to get the
R100 000 that goes with winning the title.
The 2014 Sanlam Kay Motsepe
Schools Cup soccer tournament is well underway with a record 4 000 schools
in action at cluster and regional levels. All want to win a portion of
the R3.4 million on offer in prize money.
Hillview will be participating in
the tournament for the third time and this will be the second time they have
come this far. “In 2012 we reached the provincial finals, but were knocked out,
and last year we were knocked out early in the competition. Hopefully this year
we will take it a step further and win through to the national finals, but I
know this will not be easy,” said manager/coach, Ben Moodley. He believes
his team’s success to date this season is due to all players competing for
local clubs in the community.
What has also driven the players to do well is the
fact that they know that scouts attend the provincial finals and they know this
will be their chance to be seen. “None of them are with academies, but
there are a couple that I believe have exceptional skills and could go far
under correct coaching guidance,” said Moodley, who has no coaching
qualifications and relies on reading books and watching soccer, either live or
on television.
Over the past few years the tournament has been
dominated by academies, but this does not worry Moodley. “We will tackle the
academies like any other school,” he said. “Every year it gets tougher
and tougher to maintain your position in the tournament and this is purely due
to sponsors such as Sanlam and the Motsepe Foundation, together with the South
African Schools Football Association, who provide the platform for schools to
promote themselves so we all go that extra mile to improve the team to gain
that competitive edge.”
The 2014 Hillview team consists mainly of new players,
but they have four back from last year of which two will play a key role in the
team. “My striker and captain, Sabelo Mqune, and midfielder, Leon
Abrahams are quick with their feet, and their passing skills are accurate.
Their future in soccer is looking bright but they just need a little bit of
grooming. They have been
instrumental in the team’s
success in this
tournament. Their experience is valuable because we have a number of under-17
players in the team.”
Fitness is key to the success of the team in the
provincial finals believes Moodley. “At the provincials we will be
playing a lot of games on a day so the team’s fitness levels are crucial.
So, we have been doing sprints, power work, agility and speed
training to ensure that the boys are fit enough for the tournament. I had to
research exercise programs that focus entirely on fitness to make sure that happens.”
The first Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup provincial
final will take place at the Giant Stadium in Soshanguve on Saturday, 2
August 2014.
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