The
cluster level matches in the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup under-19 soccer
tournament will be starting soon, and one school that is looking forward to
participating again is Waterstone College.
The
school is located in Kibler Park in the Johannesburg South district of Gauteng,
and this will be the third time they are playing in the competition.
Team
manager, Kerry Bailey, explains that, although they always make it through to
the provincial finals, they never go further than that. “Last year our toughest
game was against Clapham, which was daunting and challenging. We held our own
but finally lost 2-0,” she said. “We were in a very tough group alongside
Clapham (the 2013 winners) and Holy Trinity, who went on to take the national
title last year.”
In 2013
Waterstone entered the competition for the first time with an under-17 team and
they treated it as a foundation year. This stood them in good stead and
last year they improved and Bailey believes they will do even better this year.
“We
love competing in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup,” she said. “It’s a
well-organised tournament and the players always look forward to it. In fact,
they reminded us to enter this year.
“The
quality of football is excellent, it is competitive, challenging and there is a
lot of talent, which is what we enjoy as it gives the players insight into how
they can improve.
“We saw
our exit in the provincial finals last year as a chance to go back to the
drawing board to see where we went wrong and to make the necessary changes. We
definitely have our eye on the national finals this year.”
There
were only two grade 12 players in last year’s team that have moved on. Other
than that, the team has stayed the same. And they have a new coach this
year in Ryan McConviolle who is from Northern Ireland and has a UEFA A coaching
license.
“He
will start working with the team at the end of February, and we hope that he
will take them to the next level,” Bailey said.
Waterstone
competes in a number of tournaments other than the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, and
it runs its own 16-school sports festival each year, which includes soccer.
Last
year they were runners up in their festival and they also came second at the St
David’s Marist soccer tournament, which involves 16 of the top schools in South
Africa.
They
also play in the Grey College soccer tournament, and came 13th there
last year.
Schools have until 17 March to register and can access the registration form on the following websites:
Or
contact your nearest DBE district officer
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