Navalsig High R3m richer as preparation pays off in Kay Motsepe Schools tournament

Navalsig, a school from Bloemfontein, showed their class as they won all their matches and scored two second-half goals in the final. 

They went home to the Free State with a R3-million cheque as the champions, and head coach Mzonke James says playing against teams from the third tier (ABC Motsepe League) back home helped their preparations...

"We didn't play against any high school teams in preparation for this competition, we only played against good ABC teams like Mangaung United."

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The Kay Motsepe Schools tournament, which is played in the U13, U15 and U19 boys and girls sections, starts from the zonal, regional, and provincial levels, and up to the national level. James says they conquered all these levels...

"Our journey has been great and we played some good matches from the zones right through to the nationals, we did not draw or lose a single game. This shows that the boys believe in themselves and believe in our project."

Navalsig is one of the sports-focused schools in the country, offering codes like football, rugby, netball, basketball, athletics, chess and rugby. The prize money doesn’t come in monetary form, but the Motsepe Foundation helps to buy the needs of the school, and James says they will use it to help improve the infrastructure of the school.

Mamelodi Sundowns legend and former captain Themba Mnguni was named as the coach of the tournament for the U13 boys section, as he led Laerskool Queenswood to the title, beating St Annes from the Free State 1-0 in the final. Mnguni also explains that the players at Queenswood are an extension of the Sundowns academy, and this helps them with their development model.

One of the cries whenever there’s talk about a lack of development in the local game is that school football is not very organised and coordinated properly, but Mnguni has long been in this space, with a school tournament like the Kay Motsepe now in its 24th year. He says they then have a process of integrating some of the players, straight from Queenswood to Clapham High School, which also falls under the Sundowns development system.