One of the Department of Education's newest schools wins Mpumalanga Provincial Finals.

St Mark's International School, from Nelspruit became the U-19 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Mpumalanga provincial champion after winning a league playoff that involved the 4 Mpumalanga regional winners in the competition last weekend.

They now go through to the national finals of the tournament, at the Giant Stadium in Soshanguve, Tshwane, from 6 – 9 October.  They will be joined by the school that finished second on the log, Kwa-Shuku from Piet Retief. 

St Marks is a completely new school. It was registered with the Department of Basic Education in January this year, and operates on the premises of what used to be East High, after that school closed at the end of 2013 due to a reduction in pupil numbers.

Their passage to the next phase of the completion could not have been more dramatic. Just two days before the provincial playoff they learned that the team’s management, and a good number of players, would not be able to compete because they has been part of the East High setup in the competition last year and that school was suspended because they fielded illegal players at the national finals.

So, Bongani Khoza, the geography and travel teacher at the school was brought in as manager with 2 days to go and they hastily put together a team which was a combination of their best u-16 and u-17 players.

Fortunately their captain, Tsietsi Mokoena, an under-19 player, was not part of East High, so he could still lead the team.

Khoza said that they came into the tournament not expecting much of the new team, but to his surprise they not only performed well, but won the tournament.   "We couldn’t let the boys know how worried we were, but they rose to the occasion and proved that they were ready to compete in a tournament of the magnitude of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup,” he said.

St Mark's International School has 200 pupils.  The majority are South Africa, with some from Mozambique and Swaziland as well.

The emphasis is on both sport and education and they are aiming at 100% pass rate in Grade 12 this year. The school has both day scholars and boarders, but boarding for grade 12’s is compulsory.

Tsietsi Mokoena, the captain, is from Bushbuckridge where and lives with his mother and grandmother.

“I saw a pamphlet promoting St Mark’s and I decided that I wanted to go there to focus on my education and also get the best football coaching,” he said. “I love playing football. I believe I have talent and want to keep improving and perhaps get scouted into a PSL club. If not, I want to study electrical engineering.

"This is the first time I have ever played in a tournament as big as this. We do not have any sponsors at the school yet so winning the prize money at the provincial finals will mean a lot for us.”

The school was granted R100 000 to spend on legacy projects for taking the provincial title.

The 9 provincial winners and the 9 runners-up from the provinces will all be in action and they will be vying for the R1 million in funding that will go to the winning school.

Mpumalanga provincial results:

1.       St Marks 1 vs Zacheus Malaza 0

Goal:  Nkosinathi Mchunu

2.       Kwa-Shuku 0 vs Manukuse 3 (game disqualified)

Goals:  Don Mdluli, Sakhile Makhuse (2)

3.       Zacheus Malaza 0 vs Manukuse 0

4.       Kwa-Shuku 0 vs St Marks 3

Goals:  Nkosinati Mchunu (2), Mncedisi Nkosi

5.       Kwa-Shuku 3 vs Zacheus Malaza 1

Goals:  KS:  Thamsanqa Mthembu, Mthobisi Dlamini, Sandile Hlatshwayo

                ZM:  Joteaa Seopela

6.       St Marks 1  vs Manukuse 0

Goals:  Sicelo Singwayo

Final log:

SCHOOL	PLAYED	WON	LOST	DRAWN	GF	GA	GD	PTS
St Marks	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
Kwa-Shuku	3	1	2	0	3	4	-1	3
Manukase	3	0	2	1	0	1	-1	1
Zacheus Malaza	3	0	1	1	1	4	-3	1

Note:  the game between Kwa-Shuku and Manukuse was disqualified due to fielding defaulters and teams lost points and goals were taken away

POSITIONS:

1.       St Marks

2.       Kwa-Shuku

3.       Manukase

4.       Zacheus Malaza

SCHOOLS COMPETING IN THE NATIONAL FINALSs

Gauteng - Holy Trinity High; Thaba Jabula.

Limpopo - Benny's Sports Development Academy; Makikele High School.

Free State - Harmony High School; Tlokola Secondary School.

Eastern Cape - Lingelihle Senior Secondary School; Walmer High School.

Northern Cape - AJ Ferreira Secondary School; Okiep High School.

Western Cape - Mondale High School; Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary School.

North West - Sebetwane Secondary School; Matlaisane Secondary School.

KwaZulu-Natal - Tholokuhle High School; Umqhele High School.

Mpumalanga – St Mark’s International School and Kwa-Shuku

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.