North West is the last province to stage their Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial Finals

The under-19 Kay Motspe Schools Cup provincial finals are near completion with the North West province being the last to host their finals taking place at the Marikana Sports Ground in Rustenburg on Friday, 20^th  September.

There will be four regional finalists competing for the two spots in the National Finals, with the schools that finish first and second automatically qualifying. Thuso Thebe High School (Ganyesa district), Sol Plaatjie (Ngaka Modiri Molema district), Eletsa Secondary School (Madibeng) and Kirang Ka Natla Secondary School (Stilfontein)

Eletsa Secondary School, from the Bojanala district, has been competing in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, since 2010 managing to finish in third place in 2010 and again in 2017.   

Manager and coach, Daniel Mhlongo is also a teacher at the school.  His love of the beautiful game spurred him to get his SAFA referee certificate. He went on to get a SAFA Introductory coaching certificate and he manages the Young Zebra Football Team that competes in the ABC Motsepe League, so he is well qualified to get the boys to the national finals again.

Eletsa’s road to the provincial finals was highly successful as they won every game.  At circuit level they beat Michakgasi Secondary 2-0, Klipgat High 1-0, Mchakgasi 2-0 andMadibatoloane 2-0. In the district round they beat Rustenburg High 1-0, Moses Kotwane 2-0, Moretele Secondary 1-0.

“I have an excellent team this year with three of our players - Jabulani Maseko, Moloto Phologelo and Fhurani Evans - being identified by the Mamelodi Sundown scouts,” Mhlongo said. “We will be happy to win the provincials however our plan is to win the Nationals as we would like to take home the prize money to rebuild some of our school structures.”

Eletsa is working hard at preparing for the provincial finals. “We train five times a week and play friendly games within the area,” Mhlongo said. “We all know that it will be a tough competition, but we can’t lose the provincial title.”

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, 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