Author: mhlophe

The Steve Sekano Foundation will be hosting an u13 football tournament on the 9^th of December at the Fiat Sports Centre in Meadowlands Zone 9, with eight teams featuring in a playoff.

The on-field action kicks off at 09:00.

Sekano, who turned out for Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows, Jomo Cosmos, Cape Town Spurs and Spartak FC during his professional career, will be on hand to oversee the action and to hand out pre-loved football boots and school shoes to needy children.

Sekano’s Foundation, which was founded six years ago, aims to uplift the local community through football and netball.

In 2022, South African football legends’ Lucas Radebe, Linda Buthelezi, Ronnie Zondi and Tebogo Moloi attended the finals of his eponymous sports tournament.

Unfortunately, the Steve Sekano Foundation u17 Sports Tournament, which had taken place since 2017, over the course of three days, incorporating 16 boys’ teams, eight girls’ teams, and eight netball teams, will not be held this year due to a sponsorship that has fallen through.

Previously, the event drew considerable backing, including kits for all of the teams, plus an additional kit for the finalists.

Catering was provided for the participants and R10 000 went to the winners, with the runners-up receiving R5 000.

In addition, food parcels were distributed to pensioners on the last day of the tournament.

Ama Unity of White City outlasted their neighbours, Mofolo United, 7-6 after a marathon penalty shootout to be crowned the champions of the 2023 Clinix Stix Morewa Soccer Challenge at Shapa Soweto on Saturday in Pimville.

The teams, which are separated by only a street, were very familiar with one another, so it was not surprising when they finished regulation play level at 1-1. By the narrowest of margins, the bragging rights then went the way of Ama Unity.

Diepkloof Ladies captured the women’s title after defeating the University of Johannesburg 2-0 in scorchingly hot conditions.

“Nothing pleases me more than seeing women playing in this tournament,” said Matshepo Majola: Clinix Health Group Chief Marketing Officer, who was a spectator at the finals and handed out the medals and trophies.

“We have to be intentional about promoting women, not just in the workplace but in all walks of life.

“I am confident we will see more of them in next year’s competition and beyond. And with Banyana Banyana doing so well on the international scene, we have to play our part in being a conveyor belt to ensure that the talent we have in this country is not lost but goes on to bear fruit globally.”

Majola was accompanied by SAFA Johannesburg President Phil Mogodi, who co-founded the event back in 2004.

“When we started, we had said we want to help with development because as we all know our country is lacking somewhat when it comes to that, so we cannot stand on the side and watch. We have to roll up our sleeves for the love of football and the country,” Mogidi said.

“This tournament has been named after a man who was passionate about development, and seeing these players display their talent, along with women’s teams, is a clear indication that we are doing something right, 19 years down the line.

“We will continue to produce the raw talent that is all over, around us, but now plans are afoot to lure teams from faraway regions, so that we test the players we see with, say, a team from Limpopo or Eastern Cape. We should not be seen as a Soweto tournament but a South African competition,” Mogodi said.

Some outstanding players have graced the Clinix Stix Morewa Soccer Tournament over the years, including Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane. who now represents Sassuolo in Italy.

The event has exhibited continuous growth, being put on pause only during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021. Now, after 17 editions, the tournament is all-inclusive, with women also being afforded an opportunity to show off their skills.

“Bra Stix”, as Morewa was known, was widely respected for his belief in football development. He viewed it as an opportunity to assist the youth of South Africa in realising their full potential.

DIVISION FINAL RESULTS

Under-9: KDC F.C (0) 3 vs (0) 2 Rea Vaya F.C. (KDC won 3-2 on penalties).
Under-11: Diepkloof Destroyers F.C (2) vs. (0) Zola Real Glasgow F.C.
Under-13: Diepkloof Rocks F.C (2) vs. (0) City Sports Academy
Under-15: Mapetla Youth United F.C. (1P5) vs. (1P4)
Under-17: White City Spurs F.C (2) vs. (1) Ndofaya Stars F.C.
Women Senior: Diepkloof Ladies F.C (2) vs. (0) University of JHB Ladies
Men’s Senior: Ama Unity F.C.  (1P7) vs. (1P6) Mofolo United Callies F.C.

The South African under-15 national boys’ football team reports for a camp on Thursday for a week of training before setting off for Rabat, Morocco, where they will face Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire in a three nations’ tournament.

The event, which runs from the 12^th to the 17^th of December, will be a first experience of international competition for the national under-15 side.

During July, a group of under-15 players was identified during the SAFA/FIFA Talent Development Scheme Tournament (TDS) and National Schools Championships. They’ll be monitored and developed over the course of the next two years with an eye towards COSAFA and CAF AFCON qualifiers for the national under-17 side in 2025.

Head coach Vela Khumalo said although the pool of identified players numbers almost 50, a squad of 29 players has been called up for the three nations’ tournament, but that will be reduced to 21 before the side departs for North Africa.

“Unfortunately, we had to evaluate the players from the last training camp and will trim the squad to accommodate the tournament rules, but we also had to consider the type of players we will need for the two opponents (Cote d’Ivoire and Morocco) we will be facing,” he explained.

“We are looking forward to this great experience and will ensure that all the players in the squad get a taste of playing for their first international caps,” he added.

“This tournament will be a great test, but more importantly, our players will learn from a young age what it means to play for the badge.”

Khumalo said the pool of players is continually being increased and a database of those players is being maintained, so that no player becomes lost in the system.

“We will ensure that we groom these players and work on areas that we, as the technical team, think they need improvement in,” he said.

SQUAD

Ronin Blackwell (Panorama FC), Keabetswe Morake (Kaizer Chiefs), Christiano von Muelen (School of Excellence), Sive Pama (Cape Town City), Ncebo Mtolo (Magic FC), Lucca Lazarus (SuperSport United), Tswelelo Maaki (SuperSport United), Tiago Khan (Panorama FC), Luke Hendriks (Ubuntu FC), Lebogang Mswane (School of Excellence), Anovuyo Mqoqi (Cape Town City), Royce Malatji (Kaizer Chiefs), Kabelo Sibande (Mamelodi Sundowns), Thurston Phillips (Cape Town Spurs), Selwyn Stevens (Cape Town Spurs), Kgaogelo Monanyane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Emile Witbooi (School of Excellence), Ishaam Tilling (Ubuntu FC), Siphiwe Mlondo (School of Excellence), Neo Bohloko (Kaizer Chiefs), Adriano Adams (Cape Town Spurs), Lesego Hlophe (Kaizer Chiefs), Bokomoso Mokokosi (Kaizer Chiefs), Steven Mendez (Kaizer Chiefs), Uyathanda Sbothobotho (Cosmos FC), Boyzy Ngidi (AmaZulu), Luyanda Biyela (AmaZulu), Diego da Silva (University of Pretoria), Liam Mokgosinyane (TS Galaxy)

Discovery and the South African Football Association (SAFA) will host the 20th edition of the Walter Sisulu Soccer Challenge from the 1^st to the 23^rd of December, with the grassroots diski tournament set to welcome almost 3 000 players from far and wide.

Addressing the media at the launch at 1 Discovery Place in Sandton recently, SAFA Johannesburg President and tournament co-founder, Phil Mogodi, said the tournament is one that aspiring players dream of winning.

“This tournament is proud to have hosted the likes of Sibusiso Vilakazi, Percy Tau, Portia Modise, Lyle Foster, Ronwen Williams, Andile Dlamini and many more,” he said.

“It’s the festival for those wanting to follow in the footsteps of our country’s greatest footballers, and every single year the competition is more tightly contested than the year before.

“I’ve said it before, and I shall do so again: Participating in a tournament of this nature is unquantifiable and an absolute essential to any serious footballer, in my opinion. The player coming into this tournament is much more refined, skilled, determined and knowledgeable come the final whistle; and that’s our goal here.”

The tournament, which debuted in 2002, will, once again, be hosted by Shapa Soweto. Extremely competitive and highly anticipated, the one-of-a-kind football festival is renowned for the passion and spirit its players share on the pitch.

It’s big, very big! The men’s open category features 64 teams, while the women’s open includes 16 sides. In the under-17 age group, 40 teams will be in action. Only a handful of places remain open in the women’s categories.

The tournament begins with a round robin format, with the top teams progressing to the quarterfinals. From there, it’s a knockout format.

Deon Curtis, Senior Marketing Manager for Sponsorships at Discovery, said at the launch: “There’s something for everyone in this tournament, providing a professional platform for promising players to perform.

“Communities rally in support of the diski talent on display, and as Discovery continues to invest in school sports and the communities in which we serve, this tournament is one of many that speaks to our goal of getting more people active.”

The longest-running off-season football tournament in South Africa celebrates 32 uninterrupted years of staging in 2023, with the latest edition of Philly’s Games taking place from the 20th of December to the 2nd of January 2024.

The event, which will be televised on DStv channels 202 and 209, also includes a substantial prize pot of R200 000 and a place in the DStv Ekasi Champion of Champions Tournament for the winners of the senior competition.

In the under-13 age category, the defending champions are MFDN FC, while Destroyers FC put their title in the u17 age division on the line.

Over the years, Philly’s Games has shown steady growth and this year’s tournament will feature well north of a thousand young players, aged from 10 to 17, in action.

The tournament organising committee’s focus is on nurturing young talent, and many of the juniors who play in the event will progress to the senior tournament of Philly’s Games in a few years’ time.

The event’s founder, Philly Mathebula, believes the best is yet to come from the tournament that bears his name. He said it continues to gain in popularity because it is one of the best junior tournaments in South Africa.

“Philly’s Games have our sights set on making our junior tournament the best tournament in the country,” he stated.

The junior event features 16 teams in each of the under-13, under-15 and under-17 age groups. That’s a total of 48 sides and 1 200 players.

They’ll do battle in a knockout format, with matches that finish in draws immediately going to the penalty spot to decide which team advances to the next round.

The organisers have been organising the junior tournament for 16 years –the senior event has been running twice as long – and over the years it has grown in leaps and bounds, attracting not only local talent from Tembisa and its surrounds, but teams from as far afield as Limpopo and Durban.

Seventeen-year-old South African Luke Baartman is reportedly being tracked by Scottish giants, Glasgow Celtic, and English Championship club, Leeds United, ahead of the January transfer window.

Scottish newspapers, especially, have been filled with news of The Bhoys’ interest. They’re coached by Brendan Rodgers, who has also served as coach of Liverpool and Leicester City, among others.

Leeds, coached by Daniel Farke, while in the Championship, are in position to make a run at the Premier League. They’re currently third in the standings and in the thick of the race for promotion.

Still in school, Baartman is viewed as one of the best prospects in South Africa. On Tuesday, he was named the SAFA Cape Town Junior Football Player of the Year.

Earlier this month, he opened his DStv Premiership goal-scoring account for Cape Town Spurs, finding the back of the net against Kaizer Chiefs in a game that Spurs lost 2-3.

The Cape Town club is in desperate need of goal-scoring. They’re currently bottom of the 16-team Premier League standings, having netted just nine times in 11 matches.

Until recently, Baartman enjoyed the guidance of former Cape Town Spurs and Charlton Athletic striker Shaun Bartlett, Bafana Bafana’s second all-time leading goal-scorer. Bartlett was manager of Spurs, but he was sacked at the beginning of October.

While Celtic is a club with a great heritage and wonderful supporters, South African footballers have a particularly rich history with Leeds United. It began with Albert Johanneson, who joined the Yorkshire club in 1961.

A skilful left wing, he turned out in 172 matches for the club and scored 48 goals. He was also the first black player to appear in the FA Cup Final in 1965 in a game which Liverpool won 2-1 after extra time.

Philemon “Chippa” Masinga, best known for the spectacular goal he scored against the Republic of Congo in 1997, which secured South Africa’s place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, spent three seasons with Leeds, from 1994 to 1996, but his former Bafana Bafana team-mate and captain, Lucas Radebe, is the South African player most associated with The Whites.

Known as “The Chief”, and a fan favourite, Radebe was one of the English Premier League’s most dominant central defenders during his time with the club, during which he played 201 games for them, from 1994 to 2005.

He also captained the English club at a time when it consistently finished near the top of the table and played in Europe’s leading club competitions.

South African Football Association (SAFA) Technical Director Walter Steenbok, author of “The Football Scouting Bible”, began his visits to Local Football Associations (LFAs) on Monday ahead of the launch of the under-15 Girls Inter-LFA Leagues.

His first stop was SAFA Waterberg (Limpopo) where five regional representatives joined him for the launch.

There, the proceedings were opened by SAFA Technical Committee Chairperson and Provincial President Jack Maluleka, who thanked the regional reps for their attendance.

Frans Mogashoa, the SAFA Technical Director, then detailed the importance of the project, and also presented what was expected of the SAFA regions.

“The league will cater for 400 players and 38 women coaches across the four provinces,” Steenbok said. “We are looking at the next U17 girls’ national team.

“These players are everywhere. Hence, we need to go to the villages and rural locations to afford them the opportunity to be scouted and developed. This is why this league is important.”

Steenbok continued: “The criteria of players that we are looking for are girls born in 2009/2010, but this does not mean you cannot unearth talent that is younger than that age group.

“We will also be looking to unearth young, talented coaches. All these coaches will be encouraged to do CAF D and C licences in April 2024. In the meantime, an online coaching and mentoring programme will be implemented for all these coaches in the league.”

Steenbok said the u15 Inter-LFA League would be played over four months, adding that it was crucial to get girls playing football on a more consistent basis.

“Our suggestion to the regions is to have festivals every month,” he said.

“Each region must host the other regions and allow the girls to play strength versus strength. We want them playing against each other on regular basis, with each team having at least 20 players.

“The idea of this project is to create provincial teams so that we have a database of all the players,” concluded Steenbok.

In a truly remarkable achievement for St Stithians College, four of their cricketers were named in the provisional SA u19 cricket squad, which is set to fly the flag for the rainbow nation at the ICC u19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka from 13 January to 4 February.

What elevates the selection of Kwena Maphaka, Richard Seletswane and Lhuan-dre Pretorius to the next level is the fact that all three are in grade 11 only. The thought for Saints’ opposition that they have to put up with another year of the triumvirate must be intimidating.

The fourth Saints’ cricketer is Esosa Aihevba, who served on the school’s Student Affairs Committee as the Head of Sport in 2023.

For Maphaka, it has been an incredible year. Not only has he excelled on the cricket field, but he was also part of the St Stithians 1st hockey team that captured the Aitken Trophy, Johannesburg’s premier schools’ hockey competition, for the first time in 48 years.

Last year, he was the youngest player in the South African under-19 squad, still aged 16. This year, in June, he made his first-class debut, turning out for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A, and returning figures of 2 for 43 and 1 for 27 as a first- or second-change bowler. Incredibly, at the time, he had not yet represented his province, the Lions.

Maphaka was also named the Under-19 Men’s Player of the Year at Cricket South Africa‘s pathway awards ceremony for the 2022-23 season.

In October, he was selected by the Paarl Royals in the SA20 auction. There, he’ll be joined by his schoolmate Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who was also tagged by the Royals.

Mphaka, Pretorius and Seletswane were, furthermore, part of the SA Emerging team that won the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge Division Two title in October with a comprehensive 8-wicket victory over the previously undefeated ITEC Knights.

In the biggest derby in South African football, Orlando Pirates versus Kaizer Chiefs, former School of Excellence pupil Relebohile Mofokeng was given an earlier than expected introduction to the cauldron of the fiery rivalry on Saturday.

With only 16 minutes of their massive Premier Soccer League (PSL) showdown played, he was called on to replace the injured Kermit Erasmus.

Mofokeng, a crowd favourite, didn’t disappoint, playing until the final whistle and producing some classy touches, which left the Buccaneers’ fans wanting more.

Displaying nimble feet and making quick passes, he caught the eye, and he almost caught out Itumeleng Khune with a shot that the Chiefs’ goalkeeper stopped from going in with a fingertip save.

Mofokeng, who turned 19 on 23 October, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the professional ranks. Just months after making his debut for Pirates in the DStv Diski Challenge, he has made the step up to the PSL.

The Sharpeville-born forward is a product of the SAFA-Transnet School of Excellence, where he was scouted by the Buccaneers ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Although he is now making his mark for the Sea Robbers in the senior ranks, Mofokeng has aspirations of taking his talents abroad.

Earlier in November, he was on trial at English Premier League club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite having made only 11 appearances for Pirates thus far this year. Their interest is testament to the potential the young midfielder has already displayed.

If Erasmus is set for some time on the sidelines as a result of his injury, Mofokeng will have an opportunity to stake a claim for more playing time.

Pirates will hope that he delivers some goal-scoring from the midfield. With only 11 goals in 10 games, they’ll seek a boost from their rising star to improve upon their seventh place in the PSL standings.

The Alexandra Cricket Club is celebrating one of its own after 17-year-old Sipho Potsane was recently included in the SA under-19 squad which will fly the national flag at the ICC u19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka from 13 January to 4 February.

After recognising Potsane’s talent and potential, Jeppe High School for Boys brought him into their ranks, and he has since blossomed.

His former coach, Dan Phaka, praised Potsane after he cracked the nod for the national team. “Sipho is one of the brightest cricketing prospects to come from the township and we are sure, if all goes well, he will soon make it to the Proteas,” he said.

A left-arm spinner and left-hand bat, Potsane toured Bangladesh with the SA under-19 team in July, playing in three of the five Youth ODIs.

In his first match, he dismissed Bangladesh captain Ahrar Amin for a duck, and picked up 2 for 42 in his 10 overs. The very next game, he snared 2 for 38 from his 10 and, once again, took the wicket of the Bangladesh skipper, this time for a single.

With the series tied at 2-2, the coaches demonstrated their confidence in Potsane by including him in the decider, which the hosts won by a narrow three-wicket margin.

Potsane is one of nine Jeppe boys named in Lions’ cricket teams to participate in inter-provincial tournaments during December.

He, Jaydon Brooker and Tshepo Stafa were named in the under-19 team, which will be in action in Makhanda from the 16^th to the 20^th of December.

Tino Mutekwa and Ryan Young were selected for the under-16 side, and Aiden Reyneke, Shreshth Kumar, Keegan Cockburn and Zizi Mkhize earned places in the under-15 team.