The Lejweleputswa district finals in the
under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and
Sanlam, produced a major surprise over the weekend when the competition’s most
successful school, Harmony High of Virginia were eliminated.
They were beaten by Concordia High School of
Theunissen, which means that the district will be represented by new school at
the Free State provincial finals, and that Harmony will not be at the nationals
this year.
Since Sanlam came on board as sponsors in
2010, and the prize money was hiked to a staggering R3.4 million per year,
Harmony High has pocketed prize money every year. They finished first in
2011, second in 2010, in 2012 and 2013 they took fourth position and in 2014
they took fifth position. They also received the R100 000 prize
money as provincial winners in 2010, 2012 and 2014. In total they
pocketed a cool R2.7 million they spent on legacy projects.
But not this year and according to
Concordia’s manager/coach, Matlamedi Monapula, bundling them out of the
tournament came down to his team having faith in themselves and not being
intimidated by Harmony’s reputation.
“They won their 1st game 6-0, so it was
natural that our players were worried about them, but I told them that there is
no room for intimidation, the Harmony players are boys just like them,” he
said. “Besides, they all play in the SAFA second division with their local
teams and sometimes they do play against the Harmony players. After we had that
pep talk I could see that the players were more confident in themselves and
they played brilliantly. We played a fast-paced game so that they weren’t able
to keep up with us. It was a pretty intense game, they fought very hard but we
fought harder to make sure that we came up out on top.”
The highlight of the regional finals for the
coach was beating Harmony. “We have been participating in this tournament for
many years now. Last year we were knocked out during the regional finals, we
came second in our stream. Each year we come back with a positive attitude
ready for action and this year was no different,” he said.
The lead up has been very successful for the
school. They have played 13 games now, and have won 11 and drawn 2. “The team
has surprised me at how well they have been doing in this tournament,” Monapula
said.
Monapula has been coaching since 2007 and
believes that pace and stamina are important. “I believe that a team should
play a fast-paced game, I want players that can’t be outrun by the opposition,”
he said. “Beating Harmony has definitely made me even more confident in my
coaching philosophy.”
This year’s team comprises the entire
under-17 team with only two players from last year included. “I have been
coaching these boys since they were 14 years old so they know each other well
and are used to my style of doing things,” he said. “The boys are heading in
the right direction and I believe that we will do well at the provincials.”
Now that the other schools see that
Lejweleputswa is going to be represented by a different school other than
Harmony they might think that they have the provincial title in the bag,
Monapula said.
“But that will not be the case; I think that
they should see us as stiff competition. We knocked out the most victorious
school in this competition that should count for something. It should be a
warning to other schools that Concordia High School means business.”
The coach sees HTS Louis Botha as their
biggest competition. “I know they last qualified for the provincials in 2013
and finished in second position in the nationals and they are looking for a
comeback so I think they might be a problem for us,” he said.
Results of the Lejweleputswa district
playoffs:
Harmony 6 vs Monyakeng 0
Leseding 1 vs Aramela 0
Concordia 2 vs Harmony 1
Aramelo 0 vs Tikwana 6
Monyakeng 0 vs Concordia 4
Tikwana 5 vs Leseding 0
Final - Concordia 0 vs Tikwana 0
(Concordia won 4-2 on penalties).
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