{"id":85694,"date":"2025-10-28T06:06:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T04:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=85694"},"modified":"2025-10-28T06:06:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T04:06:52","slug":"diambars-sunward-crowned-champions-of-the-phoenix-elites-sa-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=85694","title":{"rendered":"Diambars Sunward crowned champions of the Phoenix Elites SA games"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Diambars Sunward’s coach, Gift Buyisile Lumka, providing instructions during a tense halftime team discussion. Photo: Siya Pongco.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boksburg Stadium played host to the inaugural Phoenix Elites SA Games<\/strong> on Saturday. The new women’s football tournament ran seamlessly and ended with Diambars Sunward<\/strong> being crowned the first-ever champions of the tournament.<\/p>\n

In the gold match, Diambars Sunward powered their way to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Silver Spears Sport Institute <\/strong>to finish the event with a clean sheet in every match.<\/p>\n

From the very first minute of the title game, they had Silver Spears Sport under pressure, and Silver Spears didn’t seem to have a clear plan on how to counteract it.<\/p>\n

It was all Diambars Sunward, and the score could have easily exceeded five or six goals, but they squandered opportunities, including several open-net chances, that could have turned the contest into a rout and decided the outcome very early.<\/p>\n

However, once the first goal was scored, Diambars Sunward’s confidence soared. They maintained a strong press, forcing Silver Spears Sport to play most of the game in their own half.<\/p>\n

Frustration was evident on the bench of Silver Spears Sport. Yet, there was little they could do, and critical errors under pressure cost them the championship.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Diambars Sunward beat East Rand Ladies<\/strong> 1-0 in the semi-finals, while Silver Spears Sport also claimed a narrow 1-0 win against Kathorus United<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Diambars Sunward (in black kit) continued to apply pressure on Silver Spears Sport (in yellow kit), seizing their opportunities, and ultimately their persistence was rewarded with a victory in the final. Photo: Siya Pongco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tournament was designed to ensure that every participant could leave as a winner, as reflected in the organiser’s slogan, “Opportunity Meets Purpose.”<\/p>\n

Diambars Sunward, the competition’s champions, took home R20 000, while Silver Spears Sport, the runner-up, received R10 000.<\/p>\n

Kathorus United, who reached the semifinals, were awarded the kits winners’ prize, while East Rand Ladies, their fellow semi-finalists, were the soccer boot winners.<\/p>\n

Among the other winners were PFC Ladies<\/strong>, who were awarded transport vouchers, and Albertho Girls’ Academy<\/strong>, who received soccer equipment as their prize.<\/p>\n

As stated by the tournament director, Melissa Sall, to SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong><\/a> last week, the tournament was set up to be distinctly different from any previous tournaments, designed so that every participant emerges as a winner. That sentiment was the prevailing message of the day.<\/p>\n

SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong><\/a> spoke with the Rustenburg City<\/strong> coach, Technocrat Yusuf<\/strong>, to discuss the North West Province’s side’s experience of participating in the inaugural Phoenix Elites SA games.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Phoenix Elites SA organised a five-a-side tournament to which Rustenburg City was invited. Coach Yusuf believes that the tournament organisers may have recognised something in his team that led to their invitation to the Phoenix Elites SA Games as the only side from outside of the Gauteng province.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rustenburg City coach, Technocrat Yusuf. Photo: Siya Pongco.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yusuf shared the reasons for his team’s successes at the five-a-side event, saying: “It is primarily a matter of discipline, and during the five-a-side tournament, our goalkeeper was awarded the title of goalkeeper of the tournament. She participated in all the matches despite being injured. Perhaps this demonstrated the determination of our girls to the organisers.”<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Elites SA Games was his side’s first time competing in an 11-a-side tournament outside of the North West, Yusuf told SuperSport Schools Plus. That was a big challenge, he added, because teams in Gauteng are more advanced than those in the North West.<\/p>\n

Rustenburg City lost all of their matches in Group A, but they were, nonetheless, competitive. Despite those defeats, it was a valuable learning opportunity for his charges, said Yusuf. It was essential for his team to push beyond their limits and to be exposed to various styles of play and competition.<\/p>\n

Yusuf also praised Phoenix Elites SA for promoting girls’ football.\u00a0“The Phoenix Group is performing an excellent job, and I would like to extend my personal gratitude for their efforts,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Upon our arrival in the morning, breakfast was provided, lunch was offered, water was available, medical assistance was on hand, and everything was organised to a top-class standard.”<\/p>\n

RESULTS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, 25 October\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Group A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Silver Spears Sport 2-0 Rustenburg City
\nAbsalom Tete 1-0 Rustenburg City
\nDiambars Sunward 2-0 Rustenburg City
\nDiambars Sunward 5-0 Absalom Tete
\nSilver Spears Sport 1-0 Absalom Tete
\nDiambars Sunward 1-0 Silver Spears Sport<\/p>\n

Group B<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kathorus United 3-1 PFC Ladies
\nEast Rand 0-0 Albertho Girls’ Academy
\nAlbertho Girls’ Academy 0-0 Kathorus United
\nKathorus United 0-0 East Rand Ladies
\nEast Rand Ladies 1-0 PCF Ladies
\nKathorus United 3-1 PCF Ladies
\nKathorus United 0-0 East Rand Ladies
\nEast Rand Ladies 1-0 PCF Ladies
\nPCF Ladies 2-0 Albertho Girls’ Academy<\/p>\n

Semifinals\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Silver Spears Sport 1-0 Kathorus United
\nDiambars Sunward 1-0 East Rand Ladies<\/p>\n

Final\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diambars Sunward 3-0 Silver Spears Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boksburg Stadium played host to the inaugural Phoenix Elites SA Games on Saturday. The new women’s football tournament ran seamlessly and ended with Diambars Sunward being crowned the first-ever champions of the tournament. In the gold match, Diambars Sunward powered their way to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Silver Spears Sport Institute to finish the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":85719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}