The
defending champions of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, the football
tournament that offers the biggest prize money in Africa, Gauteng’s School of
Excellence, are safely through to the 2013 provincial playoff stage, having
beaten Badirile High School 13-0 in their inter-district final.
Whitey
Tshowa, assistant coach of the team, said their progress so far has been expected
and that they are looking forward to defending both the provincial and national
titles. “Winning is what we strive to achieve in each and every game, we don’t
want to disappoint those who support us.
We did not lose a single game in the qualifiers,” he said.
It
is at this stage that the tournament gets harder, says Tshowa. “We are hard at work preparing for the
provincial finals, the boys are continuing with our training programme and we
will soon start with the team selection.”
As
national winners last year the school received R1 million in prize money, and a
further R100 000 as winners of the Gauteng title. Tshowa says they have asked the trust that
administers the prize money to fund the upgrading of their 4 fields. “We want
to make them top of the range, to put up shelters on the fields for the
technical team and to put in an irrigation system as well,” he said. “We will
also be upgrading our gymnasium, getting more exercise equipment, and we want
to build a board room specifically for the coaching staff
Tshowa
said they are not looking at any team as special competition in the upcoming
finals. “We take each game as it comes, but I have seen Clapham High School
play and they are an aggressive team; in their previous game they beat the
other team by eight goals. Nonetheless, we are not scared of them and we look
forward to facing them in the upcoming games.”
Striker,
Abednego Mosiathlakga, has been identified by Tshowa as a key player in the
games to come. The 19 year-old is in grade 12 and has scored five goals in the
preliminary stages of the competition. “He was instrumental in the school
qualifying for the provincial finals, and is an exceptionally talented player,”
the coach says. “Having been in the Jomo Cosmos development programme for a while
has also helped, mainly to build his confidence. He recently left them to complete his
schooling.”
Abednego
joined the school in 2008 after successfully passing trials. “My father, Abel
Mosiathlakga, was a renowned soccer player in North West and I guess I got my
genes from him, but I would like to go right to the top and play for Bafana
Bafana one day, and the school is giving me the opportunity to be able to
achieve my goal,” he said.
