Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup kick-off in Bloemfontein this week

The National Finals of the most lucrative schools football tournament in the country, The Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, kickoff in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, 3 October.

A total of 18 teams, two from each of the nine provinces, will be competing for R1 million which will go to the winning school.   The preliminary games will take place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Clive Solomon Stadium and on Saturday the action will take place at the Central University of Technology. The day will see the third and fourth place play-offs as well as the final.    Zahara, DJ Cleo and Professor will also be performing during the day.

Among the contenders for the title this year is the SAFA Transnet School of Excellence, the Gauteng champions. The school was established in 1994 by ex Kaizer Chief and Bafana Bafana Captain, Neil Tovey,  and 2012 is the fourth time that they are participating in the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup tournament, and their second appearance at the National Finals.

They made it through to the National Finals in 2009, but were knocked out in the semi-finals. Since then they have been eliminated in the early stages of the competition. This year their luck changed under new coach, Khabo Zondo, and they made it into the Gauteng Provincial Finals and beat Rosina Sedibane - Modiba Sports School from Laudium to become Gauteng champions.

Zondo admitted that getting the team back to their winning ways was not an easy task as the boys were still young and lacked confidence. He says he had to build their confidence, physical strength and teach them to be more focused.

The school has 115 pupils ranging from nine to 14years old and all have the potential to become stars. They will be using the National Finals as a platform to get back to their winning ways.

One of School of Excellence’s key players will be their captain, Thuto Mphahlele. The 18-year-old defender started at the school in 2007 and competed in the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup last year.  Zondo says he is a hard worker who has a positive influence over his teammates.

“I am really looking forward to playing in this tournament as I believe there will be scouts from all the PSL Clubs attending.  I will be finishing Grade 12 this year and will be free to join any club I wish.  But I would like to continue to study as I want to become a chartered accountant,” said Mphalele who was called up to the under-20 national team when they played in an African Youth Championships qualifier.

Another School of Excellence player to watch this weekend is Stanley Muishond. He was the top goal scorer at the Gauteng Provincial Finals with nine goals. He also got his first call up to the under-20 national team, earlier this year.

Representing Mpumalanga in the National Finals will be the East High College of Excellence.

The school is a sports academy and has competed in the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup four times. This will be their first appearance in the National Finals.

According to team manager, Abel Nkuna, self-belief and hard work was what got them through to this stage of the competition. “The school is beginning to make a name for itself as a football nursery,” said Nkuna.  “We were established in 2003, and have produced numerous well-known players like Platinum Starts central midfielder Bongani Nyathi and Willis Mashego who is currently with the Vodacom Side Apollo 11.”

The school’s  key players will be Lucas Nyambi, midfielder, and Lebo Maphanga, the team captain. Both players have good pace and can trouble defenders. They are best friends and have been playing football together since they were eight years old.

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 prize money that goes to the winning schools is used to fund educational and sporting legacy projects at the schools concerned. The prize for the winning school is R1 million, the runners-up get R600 000, the third-placed school gets R500 000 and the fourth-placed R400 000. All the provincial winners in the competition won an additional R100 000.

Participating Schools

No	Province	School	Town
1	Eastern Cape	Lingelihle High School	Queenstown
2	Eastern Cape	Mnceba Secondary School	Ntambankulu
3	Free State	Harmony High School	Virginia
4	Free State	Dr Reginald Cingo Comprehensive School	Kroonstad
5	Gauteng	SAFA-Transnet Football  School of Excellence	Elandsfontein
6	Gauteng	Rosina Sedibane-Modiba Sports School	Laudium
7	KwaZulu-Natal	Ezibukweni Secondary School	Jozini
8	KwaZulu-Natal	Emtshezi Secondary School	Escourt
9	Limpopo	Benny’s Care Sports Academy	Makhado
10	Limpopo	Mammoka High School	Senwabarwana
11	Mpumalamga	East High College of Excellence	Nelspruit
12	Mpumalanga	Lindile High School	Ermelo
13	Northern Cape	Reitvale High School	Rietchie
14	Northern Cape	Langberg High School	Olifantshoek
15	North West	Sol Plaatje Secondary School	Mahikeng
16	North West	Gaopalelwe Secondary School	Bloemhof
17	Western Cape	Steenberg Secondary School	Muizenburg
18	Western Cape	Cloetesville Secondary School	Stellenbosch