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.”