Schools representing Gauteng have done exceptionally well
at the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup national finals over the years and 2019
could well be a repeat of that, with both Rosina Sedibane, the school that the
development players from SuperSport United attend, and Clapham High School,
where the Mamelodi Sundowns development players are educated, both reaching the
national finals.
Rosina Sedibane won the Gauteng provincial title this
year, and the R100 000 that goes with it, after beating Clapham High
School on penalties in the provincial finals. Both schools will now proceed to
the national finals taking place at the University of the Free State on
September 23rd to 27th.
Rosina coach, Mpho Motola, is hoping to repeat the
school’s success of 2017 and take home the R1 million first prize.
“Rosina has been successful in winning prize money in
this highly lucrative competition over the years,” he said. “We finished
3rd in 2012 and 2013 and 1st in 2017 which has made a
huge difference to the upgrading of the school. We have improved the football fields,
built a basketball court, and we upgraded the hostels. Approximately 80%
of our pupils board at the school and these facilities need constant
upgrading.”
Rosina Sedibane has taken part in
the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam,
since the tournament started. Last year they were knocked out in the group
stages of the Gauteng Provincial Finals. Depending on how well they do this
year, they would like to continue renovating the rest of the hostel, the school
library and use some of the money to maintain their football field. “We attract
pupils from all over South Africa so over 80% of the 350 learners that attend
the school reside in the hostel,” said Motola.
The road to the national finals
was not easy, admits Motola. “We played 11 matches to qualify for the
National Finals, including local qualifiers, district playoffs and provincial
finals. We drew only 2 of those games, including a 2-2 draw with Clapham in the
Gauteng Provincial finals. We finally won on penalties to reach the
nationa.s.”
There hasn’t been much time
between the Provincial and National finals so they won’t be able to make big
changes to their game plan. “There are few tweaks that are needed such as
improving our conversion rate in front of the goals,” Motola
said. “The team gets into positions where they can score, and they are
sloppy in their execution. We must be more clinical.
“We also need to work on our
physical conditioning. The team will play a lot of games at the national finals
without much turnaround time between games, so the boys need to be fit.”
He would also like to boys to
distribute the ball a lot better. “They waste a lot of energy when they lose
the ball due to incomplete passes. We must up our pass completion rate so we
don’t waste energy trying to get the ball back.”
Playing in Gauteng is a big
advantage, Motola believes. “A lot of the
football academies and top football schools are in Gauteng, so we play against
top opposition day in and day out. Some of the other teams in the National
Finals are by far the top schools in their areas but are not used to playing
against top opposition on a weekly basis.”
Many ex-Rosina players are
playing football in the PSL, ABC Motsepe and SAB leagues. The latest star is
Kamohelo Mahlatsi who is contracted to Supersport United and the SA under-23s.
He is currently on loan to the University of Pretoria FC.
The coach singles out striker
Stevens Goovadia as a player to watch. He is aggressive and scores a lot of
goals. He was called up to the SA u-20s for a camp but did not go to the
All-Africa Games
Itumeleng Legadi, the captain is
another. He is a right-back but he can cover for right wing and depending on
the situation, he can join the strikers. He has the ability to motivate the
other players in the team. He is looked up to by other players.
Coach Mpho Motola has a CAF level
B qualification. He has a degree in Psychology but he is so passionate about
coaching and developing young talent that he went into teaching. He uses his
psychology degree extensively while coaching the boys.
The tournament is run under the auspices of the South
African Football Association (SAFA) together with the Department of Basic
Education (DBE).
The
national finals promise to be spectacular with 18 teams competing for the
ultimate prize of R1million, making the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup the competition
with the biggest prize money in Africa at under-19 level. The runners-up will take home
R600 000, third place and fourth place finishers get R500 000 and
R400 000 respectively. On top of this the nine Provincial winners
will each receive R100 000. The winnings are not handed over in cash
but spent on legacy projects identified by the winning schools.
PROVINCIAL FINAL WINNERS TO DATE:
|
PROVINCE/PF
VENUE
|
DATE
|
WINNERS
|
REGION
|
|
Western
Province
Gaansbaai |
03-Aug-19
|
WINNER: John Ramsay High School
|
Bishop
Lavis
Cape Town |
|
Western
Province
Gaansbaai |
03-Aug-19
|
RUNNER-UP: Beauford West Secondary School
|
Beaufort
West
Great Karoo Region |
|
Eastern
Cape
Queenstown |
10-Aug-19
|
WINNER: Maria Louw Senior Secondary School
(Queenstown) |
Queenstown
Enoch Mgijima Municipality |
|
Eastern
Cape
Queenstown |
10-Aug-19
|
RUNNER-UP: Jojo Senior Secondary
|
Mount
Ayliff
Alfred Nzo Municipality |
|
Northern
Cape
Upington |
17-Aug
|
WINNER: Okiep HS
|
Okiep
Springbok Municipality |
|
Northern
Cape
Upington |
17-Aug
|
RUNNER-Up: Blinkklip HS
|
Posmasburg
ZF Mgcawu Municipality |
|
Limpopo
Polokwane |
24-Aug-19
|
WINNER: Tshikota High School
|
Tshikota
(Louis Trichardt)
Vhembe Municipality |
|
Limpopo
Polokwane |
24-Aug-19
|
RUNNER-UP: Ditlalemeso Secondary School
|
Mankweng
(Turfloop)
Capricorn District |
|
Gauteng
Nigel |
31-Aug-19
|
WINNER: Rosina Sedibane
|
Laudium,
Centurion
Tshwane |
|
Gauteng
Nigel |
31-Aug-19
|
RUNNER-UP: Clapham HS
|
Queenswood,
Pretoria
Tshwane |
|
KZN
DURBAN
|
7-Sept-19
|
WINNER:
Dr JL Dube High School
|
KwaMashu
Emlanjeni
Durban
|
|
KZN
DURBAN
|
7-Sept-19
|
RUNNER-UP: Mount Currie Senior Secondary School
|
Kokstad
Harry
Gwala District
|
|
Mpumalanga
Ermelo
|
14
Sept 19
|
WINNER:
Khula Senior Secondary School
|
Standerton
Gert Sibande |
|
Mpumalanga
Ermelo
|
14
Sept 19
|
RUNNER-UP:
Siphokhule Secondary School
|
Kwangema Farm, Piet Retief, Ngema
Pixley |
No comments:
Post a Comment