Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup National Finals will see a school walk away with R1 million

The national finals of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup take place at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi, Durban from 24 to 27 September. The 18 provincial champions and runners-up will be vying for some serious prize money: the winning school will be granted R1 million to fund much needed sporting and educational projects, the silver medallists get R600 000, third-placed school gets R500 000 and fourth place gets R400 000. The nine provincial champions have already won R100 000 each for their schools.

The games will start at 8am every day, Tuesday to Thursday, while on the final day there will be only 2 games: the 3rd/4th play-off and the final, followed by the prize presentations at approximately 2pm.  There will be music included on the final day with Biz Nuz, Mayma Kay and Professor entertaining the crowd before, during half time and immediately after the final game, so soccer fans should come in numbers to future Bafana Bafana players in action.

The teams started their gruelling qualifiers in March and it is now down to the last stretch, and with it will be the scouts and agents that come to sign up the top Under-19 talent in the country.  “This is what the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is all about,” said Frank Louw, Sanlam Sponsorship Manager.  “We at Sanlam understand the value of development and the opportunity it gives youngsters to achieve what they hope for. We believe that the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup creates opportunities that have a positive impact on the youth, and provides exposure to scouts to source talented players to nurture and turn into professionals that will be future heroes and role models.  We are proud to be part of the process.”

There will be a new champion this year as title-holders, Gauteng’s School of Excellence, were knocked out at the provincial final.

Again this year the finals will see a blend academy players vs the rest.  Free State’s Harmony High School, the most successful school in the history of the competition, will be there again, but they were beaten in their provincial finals by Bloemfontein’s Louis Botha Technikon High School, who are in great form and must be pre-tournament favourites.

Gauteng’s hopes rest with Pretoria’s Rosina Sedibane and Clapham High School, who have the players from the Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy in their ranks. Others to watch out for are Limpopo’s Benny’s Care Academy and East High of Mpumalanga.

Then there the schools who have advanced to the national finals for the first time this year. They include Sebetswane Secondary from North West, and that province’s runners-up Freedom Park Secondary School. Limpopo will be sending a new school in their runners-up, FK Tijiane High Schools, while the winners and runners-up from both the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal will be making first appearances. They are Eastern Cape’s Executive Academy and Ndamase Senior Secondary as well as KZN’s Welabasha and Sibingumusa High Schools.

The full list of participating schools is:

MPUMALANGA

WINNER: EAST HIGH ACADEMY

RUNNER UP: ERIC NXUMALO HIGH SCHOOL

NORTHERN CAPE

WINNER: RIETVALE HIGH SCHOOL

RUNNER UP: OKIEP HIGH SCHOOL

NORTH WEST

WINNER: SEBETWANE SEC SCHOOL

RUNNER UP: FREEDOM PARK SEC SCHOOL

LIMPOPO

WINNER: BENNY'S SPORTS ACADEMY

RUNNER UP: SK TIJIANE HIGH SCHOOL

GAUTENG

WINNER: CLAPHAM HIGH SCHOOL

RUNNER UP: ROSINA SEDIBANE MODIBA SPORTS SCHOOL

EASTERN CAPE

WINNER: EXECUTIVE ACADEMY SCHOOL

RUNNER UP: NDAMASE SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

KZN

WINNER: WELABASHA HIGH SCHOOL

RUNNER UP: SIBONGUMUSA HIGH SCHOOL

FREE STATE

WINNER:THS LOUIS BOTHA

RUNNER UP :HARMONY HIGH SCHOOL

WESTERN CAPE

WINNER:MONDALE HIGH SCHOOL

RUNNER UP :CLOETESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL