Schools representing Gauteng have done exceptionally well at the under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup national finals over the years and 2019 could well be a repeat of that, with both Rosina Sedibane, the school that the development players from SuperSport United attend, and Clapham High School,where the Mamelodi Sundowns development players are educated, both reaching
the national finals.Rosina Sedibane won the Gauteng provincial title this year, and the R100 000
that goes with it, after beating Clapham High School on penalties in the provincial finals. Both schools will now proceed to the national finals taking place at the University of the Free State on September 23rd to 27th.Rosina coach, Mpho Motola, is hoping to repeat the school's success of 2017 and take home the R1 million first prize. "Rosina has been successful in winning prize money in this highly lucrative competition over the years," he said. "We finished 3rd in 2012 and 2013 and
1st in 2017 which has made a huge difference to the upgrading of the school.We have improved the football fields, built a basketball court, and we upgraded the hostels. Approximately 80% of our pupils board at the school and these facilities need constant upgrading."
Rosina Sedibane has taken part in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, since the tournament started. Last year they were knocked out in the group stages of the Gauteng Provincial Finals.Depending on how well they do this year, they would like to continue renovating the rest of the hostel, the school library and use some of the money to maintain their football field. "We attract pupils from all over South Africa so over 80% of the 350 learners that attend the school reside in the hostel," said Motola.The road to the national finals was not easy, admits Motola. "We played 11 matches to qualify for the National Finals, including local qualifiers,
district playoffs and provincial finals. We drew only 2 of those games,including a 2-2 draw with Clapham in the Gauteng Provincial finals. We finally won on penalties to reach the nationa.s."
There hasn't been much time between the Provincial and National finals so they won't be able to make big changes to their game plan. "There are few tweaks that are needed such as improving our conversion rate in front of the goals," Motola said. "The team gets into positions where they can score, andthey are sloppy in their execution. We must be more clinical.Many ex-Rosina players are playing football in the PSL, ABC Motsepe and SAB leagues. The latest star is Kamohelo Mahlatsi who is contracted to Supersport United and the SA under-23s. He is currently on loan to the University of Pretoria FC. The coach singles out striker Stevens Goovadia as a player to watch. He is aggressive and scores a lot of goals. He was called up to the SA u-20s for a camp but did not go to the All-Africa Game Itumeleng Legadi, the captain is another. He is a right-back but he can cover for right wing and depending on the situation, he can join the strikers. He has the ability to motivate the other players in the team. He is looked up to by other players.Coach Mpho Motola has a CAF level B qualification. He has a degree in Psychology but he is so passionate about coaching and developing young talent that he went into teaching. He uses his psychology degree extensively while coaching the boys.The tournament is run under the auspices of the South African Football Association (SAFA) together with the Department of Basic Education (DBE). The national finals promise to be spectacular with 18 teams competing for the ultimate prize of R1million, making the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup the competition with the biggest prize money in Africa at under-19 level. The runners-up will take home R600 000, third place and fourth place finishers get R500 000 and R400 000 respectively. On top of this the nine Provincial winners will each receive R100 000. The winnings are not handed over in cash but spent on legacy projects identified by the winning schools. Full story on facebookpage:@ekurhuleninews