SAFA School of Excellence eye R1 million Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup

first prize on April 30.

Winners of the 2012 SASFA Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, the School of Excellence, from Gauteng, started their 2013 campaign with a 3 – 1 win in extra time against Norkem Park High School.

Coach Khabo Zonda is pleased with the result and is cautiously optimistic

that they could well win the R1 million first prize again this year. Games

have just kicked off at Cluster level with the winners going through to the

regional finals then on to the provincial final and the teams that finish in

1st and 2nd position compete in the national finals with R4.3 million to be

won in prize money.

“I only have four players from last year so the team is pretty new and I

used the first SASFA Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup game to access the

player’s abilities, gauge how they cope under pressure and where they needed

improvement and so far I am satisfied with the kind of performance they

displayed,” said Zonda. “We are currently pushing them hard on three

elements; the technical aspects of the game, their mental strength and

physical ability which includes an hour at the gymnasium daily.  There is

good spirit in the team.”

Zonda is reluctant to single out any key players as he believes all are

still developing. “Every player is important as they all hold different

positions within the team which, at the end of the day, makes them the

dedicated team they are. Further, players develop at different times and my

team is still young and some might have developed better than other but this

might change at the end of the year.” he said.

The aim, he said, is to defend both their provincial and national titles.

“Winning the SASFA Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup last year boosted our

confidence and changed the way people look at the school. The parents have a

revived confidence and interest -we got a massive turnout at our trials in

November last year and some parents are already trying to enrol their kids

here for 2014.” 

Zonda points out that this team will be compared to last year’s. “Last

year’s team had character and ability to fight.  This was one of the

acquired traits that they possessed besides the talent they had, and this

resulted in four players going on to join PSL Clubs,” he said. “This year I

have lots of talented youngsters who are very dedicated and their passing

game is on top form. They are very positive and I can give them a plus with

regards to their fighting ability and the strength they have with ball

control and are able to score goals quickly.” One of the players from the

2012 team is goalkeeper Mbulelo Ngcobo who is proving to be a key player

this year.

The School of Excellence has a long and proud record of producing

professional players.

From last year’s team, Paseka Sekese was taken by Bidvest Wits; Stanley

Muishond went to play for Ajax Cape Town; Tshepo Maboa is now with

University of Pretoria and former captain Thuto Mphahlele who is now with

the SuperSport United Football Academy.

The prize money won in 2012 is being used to fix the school’s infrastructure

and to make sure that the fields used for training and hosting other schools

are in good condition. The money will also be used to fund academic

projects. This will be done to encourage the boys to not only focus their

attention on sport but to empower themselves academically as well.

“One of the key objectives of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is to get

as many football players between the ages of 15 and 19 as possible to

compete and be seen by scouts from the professional organisations,” said Mr

Frank Louw, Sanlam Sponsorship Manager. “Sanlam is proud to be able to

assist South African soccer by producing players that can be recruited into

development structures to be nurtured and shaped into professional players,

even go on to represent  Bafana Bafana.”