Mpumalanga U19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial Finals Kicking off this weekend

The Under-19 Mpumalanga Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial Finals take place on 26th September at the Themba Sinamela Stadium in Middleburg and will coincide with the Department of Education’s Sports Olympics.

There will be four teams competing for the R100 000 provincial winner’s cheque.  The reigning champions, St Marks School from Nelspruit, will be in action again this year, and competing for their first title will be Sizwakele Secondary School from Secunda and team manager, David Nzima, believes that it is time a different school won the provincial title.

Sizwakele have been playing in the tournament since its inception but have never managed to get to the provincials.  “But we knew we eventually would,” said Nzima.

“We put a lot of emphasis on sport, especially soccer,” he said. “Never did we even contemplate giving up.  We wanted to prove to ourselves that we could get to the provincials one day and this is our day.”

However Nzima knows that the pressure is now on. “Winning through to the provincials also means that we have moved up to a higher level. We need to prepare twice as hard than we did for the district play offs. I tell the boys to put 110% in training and in each and every game that we play in because we don’t know how challenging the other schools are.”

With over 1500 learners at Sizwakeke there is no shortage of players vying for a place in the squad. “Every year we start from scratch and select the u-16, u-17 and u-19 teams. What we look for specifically are players with good technical and tactical skills.  They also need to have the right attitude as well as determination and focus,” Nzima said.

“This year our approach to the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup was different,” said Nzima.  “Training was stepped up a gear and we had plenty of team talks on motivation and getting the players to believe in themselves.  This had a positive result in that we won all eight games we played in,” although he admits it was not easy.

The final week of training will remain as normal but additional games will be arranged.  “We have arranged practise matches against neighbouring schools to get the boys used to playing competitively. We have a brilliant and experienced coach in Mr Joseph Matloung who has been working with the team for 3 years now,” Nzima said.

“Come Saturday we will be ready to face any team and we will not go down without a fight.  We have heard that St Marks has won the tournament for a number of years now, even when they were East High, but we are not afraid of them.  We have nothing to lose and will hopefully cause an upset.”

Participating Teams

·        St Marks School -Ehlanzeni District

·        Sizwakele Secondary School-Gert Sibande District

·        Hoerskool Kriel-Nkangala District

·        Tshepanang Secondary School-Bohlabela District

North West school to play in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup National Finals for the first time.

Tshedimosetso Secondary School of Klerksdorp in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, are the North West Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial champions.  They beat Itshupeng Secondary School in the final match.  Both teams will go on to play in the national finals in Gauteng from 7^th to 10^th October.

According to David Lefifi, the team’s manager, they have been playing in the competition since 2013, but have not done very well in the past, until this year.

“Before 2013 there wasn’t much interest in soccer among the boys, so we never formed a team,” he explains. “Then in 2013 my colleague, Sipho Chozi, and I decided to start putting a soccer structure together. At that time the boys were under-16 and they have now progressed to the under-19 age group so they blend well together as a team.”

2013 and 2014 were learning years for them, Lefifi said, but they always believed that they could win one day. “After last year’s competition we went back to the drawing board and starting strategising for 2015 and came back this year with the aim of winning. The level of determination the boys showed was great.”

Winning the provincial title has been amazing, the coach said. “On Monday the boys came to school with their soccer kit and medals, and have been parading around the school. They even went out into the neighbourhood to show the community their medals and the cheque that the school won.”

Lefifi said his approach was the same as last year. “Our training hasn’t changed, but I think the players were more dedicated this year. Even the parents have been chipping in to help with transport to all the games. The level of dedication was unbelievable and I think that’s what made all the difference this year,”

The players showed no signs of nerves at the provincial finals said the coach.  “I guess it’s because we believed in ourselves.  We were not worried about the other teams and our focus was on our own abilities which got us this far.”

One of the sides they came up against was affiliated to the Platinum Stars academy, but that didn’t intimidate them. “We only found out about it on the morning of the games, so it didn’t make much of a difference for us”, Lefifi said. “The games went very well and I believe we were definitely the strongest team on show.”

Tshedimotsetso have qualified for the national finals of the competition now and Lefifi knows that will be a different level of competition.

“We will be treading carefully because we have never been at this level before. I will try to get a professional qualified coach in to help as this will benefit the boys and they will get more knowledge and practical training.”

As provincial champions, the school has been given R100 00 to spend on legacy projects and Lefifi said a lot of people will be involved in deciding on how the funds will be spent. “There are many things that the school needs, but I want the sport department to be looked after because they are the reason why the school has won the money in the first place.”

Results

Keledi 0 vs Itshupeng 1

Tshedimosetso 3 vs Hoerskool Zeerust

Tshedimosetso 2 vs Keledi 0

Itshupeng 2 vs Hoerskool Zeerust 1

Herskool Zeerust 1 vs Keledi 2

Final

Tshedimosetso 4 vs Itshupeng 1

KZN to host the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial Finals this weekend

The KwaZulu-Natal under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial soccer finals take place on 19^th and 20^th September at the Northdale Stadium in Pietermaritzburg where 12 regional finalists will battle it out to win the R100 000 as provincial champions and get the chance to compete in the national finals.

A contender that has been playing in the tournament for five years, and for the first time has managed to win through to the provincial finals is Sukuma Comprehensive School of Pietermaritzburg who will be representing the UMgungundlovu district.

“We have been looking forward to reaching this level for a very long time now and for some of the players this is the last time they will be playing for the school, so it’s important,” said team manager and coach, Xolani Mpungose.

Although this is the first time this team has qualified for the Kay Motsepe provincial finals, they have played at this level in one of the other SASFA tournaments, so the team knows about the pressure that comes with playing at this level, and will be ready.

“The current under-19 team has been playing together since 2012,” Mpungose said. “I am lucky to have a good crop of boys that are dedicated and give 110% in training and in matches. We have been growing every year.”

The journey leading up to the provincial finals has been impressive. The team played 7 games and won them all, conceding just one goal. Their highest score was 8-0 against Mpungose Secondary School in the district finals.

Maritzburg is hosting the provincial finals, so Mpungose expects a big home crowd to be watching them play. “Our plan for the provincials is to capitalise on our strengths, we have to be quick on our feet because we do not have tall players,” he said. “We are not threatened by any school, although we are expecting tough competition and we have prepared for it.”

Mpungose does not see their lack of provincial experience in this tournament as a disadvantage. “Every year new schools come through to the provincials because they have grown from their past failures. We have been preparing for this since 2012.  We have a good team that supports each other.”

“It’s all about preparing the team mentally and physically, we don’t put the team under pressure. At the end of the day there has to be one winner and a lot of losers, we always tell the team to go out there play soccer and they must remember to have fun and take in as much as they can.”

Mpungose does not have any formal coaching qualifications, but did play for KZN University while studying.  He also teaches accounting, Maths and Economic Management Science at the school.

“Soccer has always been my passion. From an early age I knew that I wanted to be associated with soccer, and as a teacher I now have that opportunity” he said.

The teams that will be participating in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial finals are:

Empangeni High School - UThungulu District

Zwelethu High School - UMlazi District

Umqhele High School - Pinetown District

Umthwazi High School - UMkhanyakude District

Dingukwazi High School – Zululand District

Guzana Secondary School - ILembe District

Sukuma Comprehensive School – UMgungundlovu District

Ingabade High School - Amajuba District

TBC-UMzinyathi District

TBC-Sisonke District

TBC-UGu District

TBC-UThukela District

Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Western Cape provincial winners go through to the national finals again

Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary School are the Western Cape under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup provincial soccer champions after beating Excelsior 1-0 in the final at the Nyanga Stadium on the weekend. 

This means they will be going to the national finals of the competition for the second successive year and they get a chance to redeem themselves after they made an early exit at the nationals last year.

The school were the Western Cape provincial runners up, which qualified them for the nationals, but according to the team manager, Xolisa Nzima their lack of experience cost them at that level and they finally finished in 16^th position.

“We were taken by surprise at the nationals last year,” he said.  “The boys did not anticipate how competitive the game was at that level and how fast-paced other schools played soccer.  We saw how much we need to improve if we want to win this tournament, and this year we decided to take what we learnt from last year and come back and redeem ourselves, which is what we have done.”

This year’s team is a combination of old and new players, and Nzima said the older hands have been guiding the young ones.

“They know the ins and outs of this tournament, and are sharing this with the new players. The team has been working very well together and communicating well, on and off the field. They are also more dedicated and focused.  We have a crop of boys that are very talented and they know what they want out of this tournament and they are working towards achieving the goal.”

One thing is for sure, believes Nzima, is that the team will definitely be better prepared.  “We are training at the local gym to build fitness levels, and I have brought in a young assistant coach, Sizwe Jack, who plays for a local team and has been a great help in bringing the team together.”

“Since he took over, we have been qualifying and reaching levels we have never reached before,” Nzima said. “The team is able to relate to him because he’s the same age as them, and the players trust him. He has built a close bond with the team, they respect one another and they get along very well.”

The Western Cape provincials went well, Nzima feels. “Of all the games, I thought that the final game against Excelsior High School was by far the toughest. We managed to beat them, but I think that Excelsior was a much tougher opponent than the rest of the teams.”

As provincial champions, the school has won R100 000 to use to fund projects that will benefit the school and surrounding community. Nzima said they still have to meet to discuss how they will be using it, as there is a lot that needs to be done at the school. He hopes some of the money can be used for sports equipment.

Western Cape Provincial finals results.

Thembalethu 0 vs Beaufort West 2

Ilingelethu 0 vs Qhayiyia 0

Desmond Tutu 1 vs Beaufort West 1

Excelsior 5 vs Qhayiya 0

Desmond Tutu 4 vs Ilingelethu 0

Excelsior 1 vs Beaufort West 0

Beaufort West 2 vs Ilingelethu 0

Final - Excelsior 0 vs Desmond Tutu 1