Are schools able to return to playing sport? We talk to Bongani Zondi Deputy Director at the DBE

 

Bongani Zondi - Deputy Director: at Department of Basic Education in the Sport and Enrichment Directorate talks to coaches and administrators about the new government gazette that is going to come out in the near future. He talks about what schools can and cannot do, reporting structures that a school needs to follow before they are able to play again, PPE requirements and various other issues that schools face in returning to sport. Mr Zondi is responsible for coordination and management of sport and enrichment programmes in education. These include school sport, arts and culture programmes such as the choral programmes. Some of these programmes are performed in collaboration with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) as well as with a variety of partners such as the Motsepe Foundation and Transnet.

Motsepe Foundation and the Department of Basic Education launch R117,5 million partnership

Motsepe Foundation and the Department of Basic Education launch R117,5 million

partnership for the development of schools football,

choral and traditional music and netball

On 24 November 2015, the Motsepe Foundation announced a sponsorship amounting to R117,5 million over 10 years for the development of schools football, choral and traditional music and netball in partnership with the Department of Basic Education.

The Motsepe Foundation and the Department of Basic Education will today be launching and activating their 10 year Sponsorship Agreement.  This initiative is also supported by the Department of Sports and Recreation, as well as the Department of Arts and Culture.

During the first five years of the sponsorship, an amount of R55 million will be allocated to:

·        The Kay Motsepe Schools Football Cup

·        The ABC Motsepe Eisteddfod, Choral and Traditional Music

·        The Kay Motsepe Schools Netball Cup

For the following five years, from 2012 to 2025, the Motsepe Foundation will contribute another R62,5 million.

All the 25 000 public and private schools in South Africa, from the rural and urban areas have been invited to participate in all three competitions.

The Kay Motsepe Schools Football Cup has been in operation for the last 10 years and is regarded as having the largest prize money in the world for schools football; with the winning school receiving R1 million from a total annual prize money of R3.4 million.  The school that comes second receives prize money of R600 000 and the school the finishes in third place gets prize money of R400 000.

The schools that win the competition in each of the nine provinces of South Africa receive prize money of R100 000 each.

SAFA has supported and partnered with the Motsepe Foundation and the Department of Basic Education over the years in schools football.

Referring to the partnership, SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan said: “This partnership is a great platform and vehicle that will assist our Vision 2022 goals. We have insisted that we need to increase the number of participants that play the game of football and the biggest potential of growth lies within schools. We want more kids to be exposed to football at an early age and we also believe it is within schools that the future Bafana Bafana stars will be identified. We have also introduced the online registration platform called Inqaku for all the school’s football registration. This will assist us in having a database for all the players and curb the age cheating syndrome. The online registration for school is available on www.safa.net on the homepage.

The sponsorship amount for the ABC Motsepe Schools Eisteddfod, Choral and Traditional Music will amount to 3 million per year and the sponsorship for the Kay Motsepe Schools Netball will amount to 2 million per year.

Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga said: “Sporting and cultural activates in education help advance social cohesion and arte an integral part of a holistic education system. As the Department of Basic Education we are extremely grateful to the Motsepe Foundation for this generous contribution which we believe will go a long way in advancing the development of our learners and promote our diverse cultural understanding”

The co-founder and CEO of the Motsepe Foundation, Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe said, “Sports and music make an important contribution to the growth and development of our youth and helps them become good role models.  My father-in-law, Mr ABC Motsepe loved school football as well as choral and traditional music.  Before he started his businesses, the school for which he was a headmaster participated in schools football and choral and traditional music competitions.  I am also excited that we will be sponsoring netball which is very popular amongst our girls in the rural and urban areas.”

North West School wins the Danone Nations Cup provincial trophy for the second time

Everything went according to plan for Kgetleng Primary School, when they were crowned the North West provincial champions for the second year running at the Matlosana Stadium in Klerksdorp over the weekend. Kgetleng beat Laerskool Rustenburg 1 – 0 in the final match to retain the title.

According to coach, Benjamin Ngcuka, the strategy was to win the first game of the day.  “Winning the first game gives the players that boost of confidence and sends a message to the other teams to be on the lookout for us and this is exactly what happened.  What also helped was the team’s dedication and hard work they have put into preparing for the provincials.”

In recognition of the team’s success the school held a special assembly said the coach.     “The school has been behind the team from the first game we played at cluster level, which helped give the kids confidence in their own ability.”

Experiencing the nationals last year was of great help to the coach.  “Although the team was new to the tournament this year, as the 2014 winning coach I was able to guide the boys because I knew what to expect.”

What is of great excitement to the coach is that two of their players were identified by Mamelodi Sundowns scouts:  “My entire team did well on Saturday but I am particularly proud of my striker, Kealeboga Moeketsi, and winger, Makhotla Jantjies, who both caught the eye of the Sundowns scouts that attended the games.  Hopefully they will perform well at the nationals and if they do join the Sundowns Development programme they will go through to Jo’burg next year.”

Ngcuka does not believe in sitting back and basking in the glory of being the provincial champions and it is back to work in preparation for the nationals.  “Last year I focused on my defence which cost us the title,” he said.  “So this year I am changing the approach completely and scoring goals is my focus.  I will also pay particular attention to building team spirit and get the boys all fired up for the nationals.  I know they will be nervous and I will make sure that do not let anyone intimidate them.”

Ngcuka is already analyzing his opponents: “I have been following the tournament since it began and I see that the Northern Cape and Free State 2014 winners will be back in action again at the nationals.  But the province I believe will give us a real run for our money will be Gauteng.  I watched Farraremere Primary last year and they were impressive, in fact I believe they should have won the nationals and if they are back again this year I know it will be tough for us.”

Results:

Seichokelo Primary 0 vs. Laerskool Rustenburg Noord 1

Kgetleng Primary 1 vs. Bophepa Primary 0

Kgetleng Primary 1 (2) vs. Seichokelo Primary 1 (3)

Laerskool Rustenburg Noord 1 vs. Bophepa Primary 0

Bophepa Primary 0 vs. Seichokelo Primary 1

Laerskool Rustenburg Noord 0 (7) vs. Kgetleng Primary 0 (8)

Final

Laerskool Rustenburg Noord 0 vs. Kgetleng Primary 1

About Danone

Danone Southern Africa is part of the Danone Group, one of the fastest-growing food companies in the world.  Danone is present in over 120 countries across all continents. With 160 plants and around 100,000 employees, the Danone Group is the number one worldwide for Fresh Dairy Products. Danone’s mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible.

One of the core values of the Danone Nations Cup tournament is to encourage young people to believe in their dreams. Through this initiative Danone offers a sporting event that reaches out to and inspires millions of children all over the world

DNC Partners:

Thaba Jabula from Pimville, Soweto is preparing for the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup

Preparations have begun for Thaba Jabula Secondary School from Soweto, Gauteng, after registrations closed this week for the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by Sanlam and the Motsepe Foundation.  

The school represented the Gauteng province at last year’s national finals, and the team’s manager/coach, Cassius Mpati, says they have been hard at work, preparing for this year’s competition.

The school competes in the Pimville Cluster in the JHB North Region and the first games will be played at the Nike Centre on 24^th April.  So far they have played 2 friendly games, and are planning on playing a few more before the tournament starts.

“We still have time to prepare the team, and the teams that we will be playing against in the cluster don’t scare us,” he said. “We are used to playing against them and have beaten them before and I have no doubt in my mind that this year will be the same.”

The school has lost 5 members of last year’s team, who have either finished school, or are now too old.

So a number of under-17s have come up into the under-19 team. “We have also taken in 3 new players, Happy Mashiane, Thato Tshabalala and Given Thibedi who are from the Kaizer Chiefs Academy,” Mpati said. “They are from Tembisa and Kaizer Chiefs has moved them to Soweto so that they could be close to where they train with the club.”

Thaba Jabula School is close to the Nike Centre where the Chiefs Youth Academy practices.

Mpati started his career as a player, which has helped him in his coaching career.  “I have been where my players are so I can talk from experience. It’s not something that you can learn from a book,” he said.

A successful coach needs to relate to his players, believe Mpati.  “A coach needs to be able to understand his/her players at all times. Being able to take yourself down to the players’ level is a good thing because it shows that you care for them and their needs,” he said.

Mpati teaches English and Life Sciences at the school, so finding the time to coach is a challenge. “Sometimes I am swamped with academic stuff and I cannot make training, so I have had to ask for assistance from an external local coach, Zakes Khumalo.

“Zakes helped us from the provincial level upwards last year and this year we decided to bring him on board at the beginning of the tournament so that he can start prepping the team the way he wants to.” Said Mpati.

Every year the school holds awards for teachers and students, and for two years in a row Mpati won the best teacher of the year award, and also the Sportsman and Team Manager of the year awards.

“It feels great to know that one’s efforts don’t go unnoticed.  Winning these awards also makes me want to do more for my students and my team.”

The team did not do as well as they wanted to at the national finals last year, but the experience did them a lot of good. “I think that stage fright got the better of them,” Mpati said. “That’s one thing that a coach cannot prevent. A team can train and play 50 games to prepare for a tournament, but that still does not guarantee that they will not get nervous.

“That’s what happened last year. We got nervous and lost all our day 1 games. We bounced back and finally drew 0-0 against Holy Trinity, the other Gauteng team in the finals.  They went on to win the tournament and the R1 million to go with it.”

Registration closes and Gauteng school is ready for action

Registration has closed for the 2015 edition of the Under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by Sanlam, the Motsepe Foundation and the Ubuntu-Botho Trust, and schools that have registered will now start competing in their various clusters.

The Kay Motsepe Schools Cup has become the foremost youth talent identification tournament in soccer in the country and the role that schools attached to the development academies of professional clubs cannot be underestimated.

A case in point is Clapham High School of the Tshwane North District in Gauteng, which was one of the first schools to register this year and houses the school-going players who are in the Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy.

The 2015 under-19 team will comprise of seven of last year’s players that are still at the school and it will be bolstered by 5 new recruits and team manager, Ngwato Petje, explains that not all their players are associated with Mamelodi Sundowns.

Keamogetswe Ledwaba comes to the school from Benny’s Sport Academy in Limpopo. He plays for Edu Sport FC in the SAB League and, according to Petj he is star quality and is definitely someone to look out for during the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup this year.

Clapham are former winners of the competition, but they were knocked out at the provincial finals last year and are keen to make amends for that. They were one of the first schools to register for the 2015 tournament and are eagerly waiting for the cluster level games to begin.

The team will once again be coached by Mike Manzini. “Last year was the first time Mike coached the team and he did a good job with the team even though we ended up being knocked out of the tournament,” Petje said.

“He has obviously learnt a few things from last year and I believe that he has prepared the team better this time around to ensure positive results.”

Petje is looking forward to seeing how the new players fit in. “They are new to the schools and will be new to this tournament but luckily we still have 7 previous players that can share their experience with them, overall the team is doing well and they get good quality training.

Preparations are going well said Petje.  “We have played 5 friendly games already and we obviously want the team to be familiar with each other and for them to see if there are any adjustments that they need to improve upon. The Mamelodi Sundowns Academy team will be playing in the final against University of Pretoria in the Multichoice Diski Challenge and that’s the basis of the team that will be participating in Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, along with the non-Academy players.”

Petje admits that it wasn’t easy to accept defeat last year as the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is the biggest schools soccer tournament and every school wants to be successful in it. “The loss showed us that we need to work twice as hard as other teams in order for us to win again. The tournament is getting tougher and tougher and becoming more and more competitive each year.”

Gauteng is by far the most competitive province, Petje said, and they are not under-estimating any team they will meet.

“Of course our main rivals are the defending champions, Holy Trinity. We have to take back the title from them and should we meet up with them it won’t be an easy match. Neither team will go down without a fight,” he said

As 2013 champions, Clapham won R1 million in funding for the school and they are in the process using the funds to build two new classrooms and a life skills centre.  They are awaiting the Department of Education approval of the site they have identified.

Mpumalanga’s Eric Nxumalo benefits from Kay Motsepe Schools Soccer Cup prize money

The Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation, Sanlam and the Ubuntu-Botho Trust, is the biggest soccer tournament in the country, reaching far beyond the field of play by making a massive contribution to education via the legacy projects that are funded by the prize money awarded to the provincial champions each year.

One of those, Eric Nxumalo High School from Thulamahashe was the Mpumalanga provincial champion in 2013, and was granted R100 000 to spend on educational and sporting projects in their community.

The official unveiling of the projects, which included the upgrade of the soccer pitch, replace broken windows and doors and tracksuits,  took place at the school recently and in attendance were representatives from Sanlam, The Motsepe Foundation, the SA Schools Football Association (SASFA) and the Department’s of Sport and Education.

At the unveiling the coach, Canon Simango, said the school has already registered for the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup tournament, and they are ready to start playing their cluster games.

The school still has 3 players from the successful 2013 team in their ranks: Enock Lebesi, captain Sydney Moyane and Leonard Nkuna, who have the experience and skills to help motivate the other players and set an example which will hopefully take the team to the national finals again.

Moyane in particular will prove dangerous on the field this year.  “He was part of the team that went on a training programme to Brazil in 2009 and he has improved dramatically and I believe he has the skills to help any PSL team,” said Simango.

Simango says the team has been training hard, at their local clubs, as well as with the school’s under-19 team.  “I would love nothing more than to win more money so that we can make even more improvements to the school for learners that will be attending it in the years to come,” he said.

Photo Caption:

Back row: (from left to right) Mr Sithole L.R. Deputy Principal , Mr Dennis Madondo, Mr Simango C.C Coach, Ms Wendy Ndlovu, Mr Mashele P. Principal,  Mr Mahlalela S. E. ,
Front row: (from left to right )  Leonard Nkuna,  Hlawulekile Moyane,  Enock Ubisse.

Gauteng school gets ready to compete in the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup

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 13^th there last year.

Schools have until 17 March to register and can access the registration form on the following websites:

www.saschoolsfa.co.za

www.education.gov.za

www.motsepefoundation.org

www.thutong.doe.gov.za/schoolenrichment

Or contact your nearest DBE district officer

Plenty of advantages for schools that register for the 2015 Kay Motsepe Schools cup

The 2015 school year has begun, which means planning for the busy year ahead is underway. High on the agenda of thousands of schools around the country is getting their entries into the biggest schools football tournament in the country, the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, in on time.  Schools will be eyeing the R3.4 million on offer in prize money as well as getting their key players the exposure to scouts to help take their soccer careers to the next level.  Schools have until the 17 March to register.

Registration is open and the Motsepe Foundation, the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) as well as the Department of Basic Education (DBE) are encouraging all high schools to enter the competition as there are plenty of benefits that are associated with the tournament.

For individual players with exceptional talent, there is the opportunity to take their soccer career to the next level. Scouts from the professional clubs keep an eye on the competition with the aim of recruiting players for their youth development structures. Then there is the financial implications with the winning school getting R1 million to spend on legacy projects that benefit, not only the entire school, but the community at large. 

The school that won the R1 million last year, and an additional R100 000 as Gauteng provincial champions,  was Atteridgeville’s Holy Trinity High School and principal, Andre Catselyn, said that school will be back again this year to defend their title

“Last years’ win certainly has transformed the school,” said Catselyn.  “We will be using the winning funds to upgrade all the classrooms, which are in poor condition, we will also put in a projector and computer in every class and refurbish the school hall, which is used by the entire community for functions and to teach life skills such as needlework.

“The win has also put our school on the map and we have had a huge interest from pupils who want to join the school, however many cannot be accepted as we do not have hostel facilities.  This year the school has grown from 250 to 280 pupils.”

Holy Trinity boasted a 94% matric pass rate in 2014.  “We only had 3 Grade 12’s in our soccer team last year and I am pleased to report that they all passed theirs exams exceptionally well.”  Since Catselyn became the principal in 2011 the pass rate has improved dramatically from 60%.

The majority of the 2015 team will comprise players from last year, who are also part of the Supersport United Development Academy and Catselyn said that the coaching team will remain the same.  “Supersport has given us Kaitano Tembo as the coach and Patrick Moubane as manager and they will be with us again this year.”

Schools can access the registration form on the following websites:

www.saschoolsfa.co.za

www.education.gov.za

www.motsepefoundation.org

www.thutong.doe.gov.za/schoolenrichment

Or contact your nearest DBE district officer

In association with:

 SASFA 

Basic Education, Sport and Recreation