Ulwazi schools tournament inspires Ngongo’s provincial league vision

Speaking on the sidelines of the tournament, which was held at Walter Sisulu University, Bika Campus in eGcuwa this past weekend, Ngongo says they are now engaging the organiser of this tournament, Luxolo September, to spread it throughout the province as a league. 

She says a league version of this tournament will benefit more students...

"We should not only have this tournament, but we should look at making this tournament a league so that it covers the entire province, and that our young athletes continue to have activities to perform every now and then. When it becomes a league, we will have a lot of improvement when it comes to the development of our young athletes."

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The Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts and Culture also runs a provincial schools Champions League that culminates in a tournament.

As it is usually the case with most public schools in the country, Ngongo says one of the challenges they have is some schools not taking sport seriously, and this is the biggest problem with schools in the townships and rural areas. 

September, who is also the Head of TV and Director of Communications at CAF welcome Ngongo’s commitment and approach to this initiative. It was the second Ulwazi Knowledge school sports initiative in an area not regularly known for development...

"This cannot just be a thing of 2-3 months, which includes a few towns. The MEC is young and I have a good relationship with her, the Premier, and the Department of Education. So let's see how we can make this into a provincial tournament.

"We are not only trying to develop better human beings and better footballers, but we are also providing skills to young administrators because there's been a decline on that front."

The tournament was won by Xolilizwe Senior Secondary School from Gatyana, beating Macibe Senior Secondary School from September, and she says they have a total of 36 schools from eight towns in the Mnquma, Mbhashe and Ntsika Yethu municipalities, aimed at helping to promote sport and also to bring opportunities to schools in this area.

There were also scouts from Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams, AmaZulu FC, Milford FC, whose owner Dr Xhanti Pupuma hails from Ngqamakwe. Mamelodi Sundowns were present, as well as Africa School of Excellence. 

September says this will help the exceptional talent to be scouted and possibly attract the attention of junior national teams as well.