Western Cape Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial Finals Postponed

The Western Cape Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup provincial finals will now take place on 1 September at the Rustedene Stadium in Beaufort West.  The postponement is to accommodate the Muslim month of Ramadan as many players will be fasting during the month of August.

The winners of the six regional finals will participate, namely Central Karoo, Eden, Overberg, Cape Town, Cape Winelands and West Coast.

Qhayiya Secondary School from Hermanus, representing the Overberg Region, will be making their third appearance in the Provincials, but have never gone on to play in the National Finals.  Seventeen year-old team captain, Monwabisi Tim, believes his team will make it to the National’s this year: “We’ve learnt a lot last year in terms of how the different regions play and, with the full support of the technical team as well as the teachers; we have the confidence and drive to go all the way to the Nationals.”

Qhayiya’s coach, Mike Gwaxa, has been with the school team since 2006. He says that the four players in the team that competed in last year’s tournament will help, but he cautions that his team’s fitness might let them down. “It was self-belief that let us down last year. Playing teams like Beaufort West Secondary School and Bastiaanse Secondary School can be intimidating as they have won the tournament before.  I am working on fitness at the moment to get the players to peak at the right time.”

Looking forward to the provincial finals is Thembalethu Secondary School’s player from the Eden Region, Goldman Jwili:  “This will be the first time we will be competing against the best under-19 teams in the Western Cape and we are going there with confidence, but will not take any opposition we face lightly.”

The 17-year-old captain believes that the schools fromGeorge have exceptionally talented players and he went on to say that his school has a better than average chance of winning as they are regarded as underdogs.

Also joining the two schools is 2010 Nationals Finalists; Bastiaanse Secondary School (Central Karoo). The school finished 16th that year.

Cape Town, Cape Winelands and West Coast are still to host their regional finals.

About the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup:

The Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is an initiative co-funded by Sanlam, the Ubuntu-Botho Community Development Trust and the Motsepe Family Foundation. It the biggest high school soccer tournament in South Africa and is open to all high schools including rural, public, private and independent schools. The National winning school will walk away with R1 million with R600 000, R500 000 and R400 000, for the second, third and fourth placed schools respectively. Each Provincial winners gets an additional R100 000. Prize money is used to fund legacy projects identified by the school.