Mondale, from the Western Cape, win R500 000 in the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup

Mondale High School from Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town finished their 2014 u-19 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup campaign on a high after beating Kwa-Shuku, from Mpumalanga, 7 – 2 in the 3^rd place playoff game. They walk away with the R500 000 in funding that goes to the third-placed school.  Combined with their R100 000 as the Western Cape provincial winners the total goes up to R500 000.  Kwa-Shuku, from Mpumalanga, a first timer in the national finals, take home R400 000.

According to their coach, Nigel Crowie, the school is going home proud.  “We finished in 5^th position last year and our aim was to finish fourth this time around, so this third place finish is a bonus,” he said.

Mondale is gaining a reputation as a football nursery. Three of the players from the 2013 Mondale team have gone on to PSL clubs.  Brandon Dean is currently with SuperSport United, Darren Smith is in the starting line up for AmaZulu and Dillon Fransch, who is currently in Grade 12 at the school, is with Ajax Cape Town.

According to Crowie, it’s not correct to say that Mondale hosts the Ajax Cape Town youth academy. There is only one player at the school that is with their academy, Dillan Fransch, but there are about 4 others that are attached to a local Cape Town based Academy. Fransch was scouted by both Sundowns and Ajax CT at last year’s Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup but opted to remain in Cape Town.

The coach said that after their good performance at this tournament, they are hoping that more players will have been noticed by the PSL clubs.

“Our school is not a sports academy,” Crowie said. “The principal promotes excellence and doesn’t stand for mediocrity so all the boys at the school excel academically and on the sports field.  That’s one of the reason our boys have done so well in soccer, they are achievers.

However, Crowie stresses that academics come before sport. “All the players brought their books along to Pretoria to study for their exams which start in a few week’s time,” he said. “Most of the players are in grade 12, so their final exams are just around the corner. We achieved a 99 percent pass rate last year and are determined to maintain that standard”

The Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is not an easy tournament, Crowie said. “The players seem to get better every year, but we prepared well for the finals and our hard work paid off.”