KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP national finals to take place at the University of Free State in Bloemfontein next week

Unitas Hoërskool of Welkom will be playing in the National Finals of the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, for the third year in a row. The nationals will be played at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein from September 23^rd to 27^th October.

Their success in the tournament is directly related to their new coach, Pitso Mokoena (ex Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Start player) said manager, Lerato Lephatsa.  “Since Pitso took over the coaching in 2017 we have won the provincial title and the R100 000 in prize money that goes with it.

In 2017 and 2018 they did not progress past the group stage in the National Finals, but they are hoping to do better this time around. The R100 000 won in 2017 was spent on sports equipment for the school and the 2018 prize went towards refurbishment of the school and new tables and chairs.

With this year’s R100 000 they would like to develop another field at the school, for their under-15 and under17 teams. That proposal must still be approved by the school governing body, however.

Lephatsa believes that drawing too many games is why they didn’t progress far in the national finals.  “We never lost a game at the national finals in the past 2 years, but we drew many of them.  I believe our team is very good and if we could just get past the group stage, I feel we could well win the tournament.  I believe we have home ground advantage which is an advantage which we need to capitalise on,” he said.

The boys were given a week off after the Provincial Finals, but it is now back to serious training with the assistance from the local SAFA Free State structures.

There’s not much time left, so the team is going to concentrate on small aspects of the game. “We will focus on scoring goals as we miss too many opportunities,” Lephatsa said. “We also need to work on the boys’ temperament. We don’t want them to get all worked up just because they are at the National Finals.”

The strength of the team is in keeping possession, said Lephatsa. “They move the ball around and look to open up space in the opposition’s defence then try to take advantage of it. That needs patience, and not trying to rush scoring opportunities.”

To qualify for the national finals Unitas played 15 matches, only losing one.

A player to look out for is Sechaba Tsoaela, striker and captain. He is a SA under-20 player who was at the All-African games in Morocco earlier this year. He played in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup in 2018, so he has a lot of experience at this level.

Central midfielder, Anela Matala is another one to watch. He also went to Morocco with the SA under-20s. He is calm and tries to support his defence and link up with his strikers.

Striker, Nkululeko Shabangu is the team’s playmaker. He is still only 17 and will play again next year. He does not score a lot of goals however he makes up for it by creating a lot of goal scoring opportunities.

Coach Pitso Mokoena has a SAFA level 3 coaching qualification and came to the school from the Harmony Sports Academy. He has added a degree of professionalism to the team, admits Lephatsa.  “The players are disciplined, polite and have pride in what they do.”

Pitso’s training regime is professional with a plan behind every training session. “The players understand the plan and work towards it. The Kay Motsepe Schools Cup It is a wonderful initiative that provides children from disadvantaged backgrounds with an opportunity to pursue their dreams and get exposed to competitive levels of football,” said Lephatsa.

The tournament is run under the auspices of the South African Football Association (SAFA) together with the Department of Basic Education (DBE).  In accordance to the rules of the tournament, provincial winners as well as runners-up from each province will compete in the national finals.

The national finals promise to be spectacular with 18 teams competing for the ultimate prize of R1million, making the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, 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-Sep	WINNER:  Khula Senior Secondary School	Standerton Gert Sibande
Mpumalanga Ermelo	14-Sep	RUNNER-UP:Siphokhule Secondary School	Piet Retief, Ngema Pixley