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Mphelo Thorisho, aged 15, is a Holy Family College student and a JVW FC winger. She is also a member of the u17 South African girls’ team, “Bantwana“.

In a recent interview with SuperSport Schools Plus, she talked about her passion for football.

Like many of her teammates, she started her journey in football at a very young age, engaging in matches with boys during break time at school. Soon, she began improving, and that encouraged her.

“When I saw that I was getting good, I started becoming more serious about the sport, and started to join teams and started to play in local leagues,” she said.

Mphelo said the Covid-19 lockdown prevented her from playing as much football as she would have liked to play. However, after the lifting of the lockdown, she began training with SuperSport United, which greatly improved her skills.

While at the club, she continued to compete against boys, and it was during this time that coach Shannon Allan recognised her talent and recommended her to Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies.

“At Sundowns, I learned how to play the ball tactically, and that improved my basics, like the first touch, and how and when to make a run. So now, I feel like I’ve become better at those things. I am more confident when I play now.”

Mphelo looks up to two FC Barcelona players as role models, Lamine Yamal and Salma Parauello, who plays on the wing for Barca in Liga F, the women’s division of La Liga. Parauello’s talent and resilience, and her ability to challenge opponents, especially resonates with Mphelo.

She said she paid close attention to Parauello during the UEFA Women’s Championship in 2022, and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which Spain won by defeating England 1-0 in the final.

When she first received a call-up to represent South Africa, Mphelo said she found it hard to believe. However, blessed with an opportunity to play for her country, she immediately got down to work. “I started training and working harder so that when I got to the camp, they would be happy with the decision to call me up.”

Playing for the national team has taught her discipline, she said, and how demanding it can be to represent her country. Versatility is important, she added, with players being asked to play different positions and having to adapt to those challenges.

Now, at JVW, she says that her coaches have taught her lessons that can be seen in different aspects of her play.

“I’ve learned that hard work pays off because, ever since I joined JVW, I’ve gotten many chances to do lots of things. I’ve played lots of tournaments and I feel like that’s what helped me be seen by the national team and get a call-up.

“At school level, I’ve learned sometimes you have to be patient with your teammates.”

When not playing football, Mphelo typically spends time reading books at home and occasionally playing basketball.

She is currently preparing for the second round of the u17 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers, with Bantwana set to face Nigeria at home on 8 March and away on 15 March.

They’ll hold a one-week training camp from 16-22 February before taking on the Flamingos.

The second week of basketball action around the country stretched far and wide with schools from Kwazulu-Natal, Gauteng, and the Eastern Cape in action.

In KZN, Kearsney College welcomed Glenwood High to The SportZone and dominated the visiting outfit from the jump ball.

The visitors struggled to score, and Kearsney took advantage of their lack of defence, scoring a consistent 20 points in the first two quarters, while holding the visitors to single points in each quarter, to take an imposing 40-13 lead into the break.

When the teams returned to the court after half-time, Kearsney ramped up their scoring, adding 30 points in the third quarter.

Glenwood managed to double their half-time score, but they were well out of the contest.

The clock was run in the fourth quarter to end the game quicker, which left Kearsney the handsome winner by an 87-30 margin.

Connor Grenfell (13), Lubanzi Mseleku (12), Lwandile Njapha (12), and Daniel Prinsloo (11) led from the front to see the hosts through to a big home win.

In a clash of top teams, Northwood, playing at home, emerged victorious over Westville, winning by a 71-64 scoreline.

Hilton College beat St Charles 69-64 in a tight clash, Durban High School saw off Michaelhouse 54-44, and Maritzburg College beat Clifton 78-34 as all the KZN winners won at home.

In Gauteng, St Benedict’s recorded a 48-41 victory over St John’s in something of an upset. St John’s recently beat Bennies, on their way to winning the American International School of Johannesburg Basketball Tournament.

St Alban’s beat Jeppe 60-53, in a tight defensive battle, St Stithians recorded a narrow 34-29 victory over St David’s, while the clash between King Edward VII (KES) and Pretoria Boys High was also all about defence, with KES edging out PBHS 36-33.

In the Eastern Cape, down in the windy city of Gqeberha, Grey High hosted Queen’s College, B-Blessed, and Kingswood College. With the home-ground advantage, Grey High beat Queen’s College 24-13, while B-Blessed beat the boys from Komani 22-13 defeat.

Queen’s picked up one win, beating Kingswood College 21-12.

Weekend Basketball Results

Northwood 71-64 Westville
Hilton College 69-64 St Charles
Durban High School 54-44 Michaelhouse
Kearsney 85-22 Glenwood
Maritzburg College 78-34 Clifton College
St John’s 41-48 St Benedict’s
St Alban’s 60-53 Jeppe
St Stithians 34-29 St David’s
KES 36-33 Pretoria Boys High
Queen’s 13-24 Grey High
Queen’s 13-22 B-Blessed
Queen’s 21-12 Kingswood

Hayden Campbell struck an outstanding half-century to inspire St David’s Marist Inanda to an emphatic 59-run victory over Monument in their Johnny Waite Trophy match at St David’s on Tuesday afternoon.

The victory was bittersweet for St David’s. Despite it being comprehensive, it turned out to be slightly less than the margin they needed to qualify for the semifinals of the competition.

King Edward VII School (KES), with whom they tied on points, will face Jeppe High School for Boys in the semis thanks to a superior net run rate.

Logan Weetman, the Monument captain, followed the wisdom of statistics when it came to the toss. Five of the past six games at the La Rosey Oval had been won by the chasing team, with only one going the way of the side that batted first. He called correctly and asked the hosts to bat first.

Early on, it looked like a good call, as St David’s stumbled, but they found their feet and galloped to 180/8.

In reply, Monument lost their way in the powerplay and never rediscovered it, fumbling their way to 74/7 in 13.4 overs. Then, the heavens opened up and rain halted play. That led to the result being calculated using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Campbell’s aggressive innings lasted just 34 balls, during which he lashed three fours and five sixes in a brilliant 60. The hosts needed someone to pull them out of the quicksand after they found themselves in trouble on 37/4 after 5.3 overs. Three of those four wickets had fallen in eight balls.

Caleb Dos Santos closed out the fifth over with two wickets in two deliveries to send St David’s reeling. Then, Innocent Ramerafe backed up that double strike with the dismissal of Kamogelo Phiri midway through the sixth over.

Campbell and Samrat Basu steadied the ship with a 107-run fifth-wicket partnership from only 67 deliveries. Basu, the St David’s captain, belted five fours and four maximums in his 43-ball 60. Their partnership helped catapult the hosts from 144/5 after 16.4 overs to 180/8 only 20 balls later.

Jason Rowles returned to the St David’s starting lineup after his successful sojourn with the South Africa u19 side against England u19. In four Youth Test innings, he scored three half-centuries to earn himself the Player of the Series award. However, the 16-year-old didn’t impact the St David’s innings, scoring only one off eight balls.

You can’t keep a good man down, however, and Rowles made up for his batting miss with an excellent bowling performance. Taking the new ball with Christopher Emslie, it took Rowles only three balls to strike as he spun a web around the Monument batsmen.

The visitors had no answers to his guile. In his first two overs, he recorded 12 dot balls, conceded a single run via a wide delivery, and bagged two wickets. He finished with an outstanding four wickets for a single run from three overs, registering a mind-blowingly low economy rate of 0.33.

Monument’s batsmen did not fare much better against Emslie’s left-arm pace. They were on 6/3 after the powerplay, which left them requiring an unlikely 174 runs to win in 14 overs at a rate of 12.5 runs an over. Despite not taking any wickets, Emslie was almost as frugal as Rowles, conceding only three runs in two overs.

Weetman, who strode out to the middle in the third over, appeared to be facing a different bowling attack on a different surface. He was particularly destructive against Jared Stern, bludgeoning four sixes in a single over off the pacer, as he powered his way to an unbeaten 50 off 26 balls.

Ibrahim Haffejee was the only other Monument batsman to reach double figures, chipping in with a run-a-ball 15.

Scorecards

St David’s Marist Inanda 180/8 (Hayden Campbell 60, Samrat Basu 60, Innocent Ramarafe 3/24, Caleb Dos Santos 2/18). Hoërskool Monument 74/7 (Logan Weetman 50*, Ibrahim Haffejee 15, Jason Rowles 4/1, Morteza Manack 2/10). St David’’s won by 59 runs (DLS).

Dit beloof om ’n woeste geveg af te gee wanneer die twee groot honde in die B-afdeling van die Finsbury-reeks mekaar Saterdag in Kempton Park takel.

Volg al die aksie regstreeks op Supersport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)

Hoërskool Hans Moore, tans die gunsteling om deur te dring na die promosie-relegasie-wedstryd ten einde volgende jaar deel uit te maak van die A-afdeling, verwelkom Saterdag ‘n gevaarlike Hoërskool Kempton Park in sy agterplaas.

Die kolfstryd is verál een om na uit te sien. Die Kempies se toporde het deur die loop van die reeks skoonskip gemaak, terwyl die Moories reeds twee keer in die kompetisie met 10 paaltjies koning gekraai het.

Die tuisspan se twee gevaarmanne, aanvangskolwer, Sheldon Kruger, en die veelsydige Wian Pieters, se paaltjies sal hoog op prys gestel word. Die uitdaging vir die boulers Saterdag is dat albei spanne taamlik diep kolf.

Benewens die gevestigde openingsvennootskap van die besoekers se Zander Swart en Stefan Vermaak, wag Xavier Coetzee en die Shaw-broers, Kenan en Aiden Shaw, ook op die Kempies se aanval. Op hul beurt, beskik die Kempies oor die linkerhandse paaltjiewagter/kolwer, Stian de Villiers, en kaptein, Marko Richter, se vernuf in die middelorde.

Hoërskool Marais Viljoen reis na die noorde van Pretoria waar hy teen Hoërskool Montana te staan kom. Albei spanne lek steeds wonde na behoorlike loesings die week vantevore. Die span van Alberton het met agt paaltjies die onderspit gedelf teen die Kempies, terwyl die Monties nie hond haar-af kon maak teen Potchefstroom Gimnasium nie.

Albei spanne sal dus vasberade wees om die Finsbury-reeks op ‘n hoë noot af te sluit. Die besoekers se Abdullah Tadwala is mooi op dreef geoordeel aan sy spogvertoning teen die Kempies en sal dus vierkantig in die tuisspan se visier wees.

Potchefstroom Gimnasium heet die sukkelende Hoërskool Centurion welkom in Potch, en sy kolwers, vernaam Ulrich Botha, sal oorgehaal wees vir die laaste geleentheid om op tuisbodem te kolf en die somersportseisoen met mening af te sluit..

Bepalings:

Week 5:
Hoërskool Kempton Park t. Hans Moore
Montana t. Marais Viljoen
Potchefstroom Gimnasium t. Hoërskool Centurion

Monnas sien vanjaar uit na ‘n splinternuwe hoofstuk in dié rugbyskool se trotse geskiedenis.

‘n Leë doek en nuwe bestuurspan voorspel groot opwinding vir die Wit Bulle van Hoërskool Monument in 2025.

Volg al die Monument-aksie regstreeks op SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)

Die Wit Bulle het einde verlede jaar taamlike opslae in die media gemaak met hul herstrukturering en, meer spesifiek, die aanstellings van oud-Wit Bul, Reinhard Gerber, en die voormalige Springbok-stut, dr. Jannie du Plessis, as die eerste span se afrigters, met die oog daarop om Monnas weer na die kruin van die golf te neem.

Monument het kort daarna ook ‘n vennootskap met die Franse klubspan, Stade Français, gesluit, om sy rugbyprogram verder te ontwikkel en meer geleenthede te skep vir spelers in die toekoms.

Die 2024-seisoen was ‘n moeilike een vir die Wit Bulle en hul getroue ondersteuners, wat onder andere hul grootste nederlaag nóg op die rugbyveld ingesluit het. Die situasie kan vanjaar heel anders daar uitsien met bogenoemde twee rugbybreine wat hulle by die trotse rugbyskool in Krugersdorp aangesluit het.

Du Plessis neem die leisels oor as hoofafriger, terwyl Gerber sy ondersteuning as hulpafrigter bied. Riaan de Jager word ingespan om die Wit Bulle wedstrydfiks te kry in sy hoedanigheid kondisioneringsafrigter, met Morné Venter wat sake agter die skerms behartig as spanbestuurder en dr. Jano de Beer wat as spandokter dien.

Die Wit Bulle kry reeds vroeg vanjaar ‘n kans om dáái reuse nederlaag van verlede seisoen teen Grey Kollege reg te stel. Monnas verwelkom die rugbyreus uit Bloemfontein die 21ste Maart op hul tuisveld, die Ras van Rooyen. Hul seisoen skop egter reeds ‘n week vroeër af met ‘n strawwe wegwedstryd teen Welkom Gimnasium.

Daarna volg die jaarlikse NMI Toyota Noord/Suid-toernooi en Kearnsey Easter Festival. By die Noord/Suid-toernooi, wat vanjaar by Paul Roos Gimnasium in Stellenbosch aangebied word, kom hulle teen nóg een van die land se groot honde, Paarl Gimnasium, te staan, wat uitstekende voorbereiding sal te bied vir nogmaals ‘n klipharde seisoen wat wag in die Beker-afdeling van die SDC Noordvaal Cup.

Die Wit Bulle het laas in 2022 met die loure as Noordvaal-kampioen weggestap.

Du Plessis en Gerber het vanjaar heelwat talent om mee te werk. Die Wit Bulle beskik steeds oor 11 spelers wat reeds in 2024 vir die eerste span uitgedraf het. Dit sluit Viandré van Loggerenberg en Dean Hartman, wat onderskeidelik vyfde- en derde-generasie Wit Bulle is, in. Vooryman, Juandré Marais, en die blitsige skrumskakel, Evan Berhardi, is ook weer terug in die kraal.

Vir die nuwe afrigtingskorps gaan dit egter oor veel meer as net rugby.

“Ons doelwitte is om alle Monumentare, huidiglik en ‘Old Boys’, trots te maak, en die seuns soveel as moontlik te ontwikkel vir hul pad voorentoe,” het Gerber gesê.

Die nuwe seisoen beloof om alles behalwe vervelig te wees by een van Suid-Afrika se grootste skolerugbykragte.

Bepalings vir 2025:

[ninja_tables id=”64053″]

Die verdedigende kampioen in die A-afdeling van die Finsbury-reeks, Hoërskool Waterkloof, kom hierdie week voor ‘n taamlike toets te staan in sy laaste rondomtaliewedstryd.

Volg al die aksie regstreeks op SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)

Die Klofies, huidiglik steeds eerste op dié afdeling se puntelys, se diepte sal behoorlik getoets word wanneer hulle Saterdag teen Hoërskool Rustenburg, op hul tuisveld, die André van der Walt-ovaal in Pretoria, te staan kom.

Die span van Pretoria moet sonder van sy groot staatmakers klaarkom aangesien hy ook ‘n span na die Clifton T20-toernooi in die Middeland van KwaZulu-Natal stuur. Dit is egter welbekend dat die Klofies oor ‘n gesonde pyplyn van kriekettalent beskik.

Die Rusties, met nog slegs een oorwinning in die reeks agter hul naam, sal dus met heelwat hoop en ywer die tog na Pretoria onderneem en taamlik staatmaak op ‘n uitblinker soos Callie Fryer. Fryer, blitsig met die bal en aanvallend met die kolf, spog reeds met internasionale ervaring nadat hy deel uitgemaak het van Krieket Suid-Afrika se o. 19-groep wat vroeër vanjaar teen Engeland meegeding het.

Verdere verantwoordelikheid rus op die skouers van die Rusties se aanvangskolwers, Thian Labuschagne en Hendré Robinson. Albei is netjies op dreef en het gedreig om behoorlik los te trek in die span van Noordwes se vorige wedstryde.

Hoërskool Eldoraigne, met die vooruitsig van ‘n plek in die reeks se eindstryd, sal Hoërskool Nelspruit versigtig benader wanneer die span van die Laeveld in Centurion kom besoek aflê. Die Nellies het verlede naweek verras met ‘n spogsege oor Hoërskool Menlopark, wat grotendeels te danke was aan die heldedade van Vaugh van Zyl.

Sy honderdtal, asook die vier paaltjies wat hy laat kantel, sou beslis deur Abré Volgraaff en die res van die Eldos se afrigtingspan ontleed geword het. Van Zyl sal nietemin op topvorm moet wees indien hy die intimiderende toporde van die Eldos se kolflys wil stuit.

Hoërskool Menlopark het steeds ‘n wiskundige buitekans om om die einstryd te haal. Die Pretorianers het, ná hul nederlaag in Nelspruit, van tweede tot derde op die puntelys afgeskuif.

Hulle sal egter hoop dat die Nellies hul ‘n guns bewys deur die Eldos te troef, en dan self met ‘n bonuspunt teen ‘n onvoorspelbare Potchefstroom Volkskool moet wen. Dit sal voorop staan vir die Parkies se kaptein en lopievraat, Dian van Zyl, en as nodige motivering dien vir nóg een groot kolfbeurt.

Bepalings:

Week 5:
Waterkloof t. Hoërskool Rustenburg
Eldoraigne t. Hoërskool Nelspruit
Menlopark t. Potchefstroom Volkskool

Silverware will be on the line this coming weekend when 16 teams battle it out at the Vides Water Polo Tournament, hosted by Selborne College in East London.

The prestigious event runs from 13-15 February and will take place at the Selborne College pool and Clarendon High School for Girls’ Harrison Aquatic Centre.

The Vides is the oldest schools’ water polo tournament in South Africa and attracts big names year after year.

Last year, KwaZulu-Natal’s Clifton College beat Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) in the final to claim the trophy.

Clifton returns to defend their title with a young and exciting squad under the guidance of head coach, Pierre le Roux.

Le Roux took charge of Clifton earlier this year and, despite not having spent the off-season with the side, led them to an impressive seventh-place finish at the St Andrew’s College (SAC) Shield last month.

They have been drawn in Pool D along with the Eastern Cape trio of Grey High, Selborne Collegians, and Woodridge College.

The KZN school is expected to breeze through the pool and secure a quarterfinal spot in their quest to defend the title, but Grey High, after a challenging run at the SAC Shield, pulled off some strong results at the ITEC Grey College Water Polo Tournament, where they finished fifth.

While Clifton should be strong contenders, St Andrew’s College, Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), and the home team, Selborne, should be in the running for the title, too.

St Andrew’s, by their high standards, underperformed at last year’s tournament and ended up eighth, behind Grey High and St Alban’s College.

They do, however, appear to be an improved side in 2025, led by captain Calum Emslie, who was Nelson Mandela Bay‘s leading goal scorer at the 2024 Schools Water Polo South Africa Inter-Provincial Tournament.

PRG is also a team not to be underestimated despite a challenging start to their season in the Western Cape.

At the SAC Shield, coach Vaughn Marlow’s side finished 11th, which would have disappointed them.

It’s their home form, however, that they’ll want to carry into East London. PRG is currently joint second on the SACS Nite Series log. They’ve won two out of three, including an upset of SACS in their opener.

The Stellenbosch school has played some enterprising water polo in recent weeks and inspired performances will be needed if they are to go all the way this time around.

The hosts are another interesting outfit that will be out to stake a claim in front of their supporters. Selborne last won the Vides in 2017 and last year won the bronze medal after beating Reddam House Constantia 8-5 in the third/fourth playoff match.

Coach Storm Siebert will feel confident about his team’s chances after an outstanding run at the SAC Shield where they finished in fourth place and defeated a strong Hilton College team 12-9 along the way.

Other schools in action at the tournament include the Western Cape’s Wynberg Boys’ High, Paarl Boys’ High, and Reddam House Constantia. At the ITEC Grey College Water Polo Tournament, Reddam topped their pool but lost out in the playoffs. They’re a dark horse title challenger.

St David’s Marist Inanda and St Alban’s College fly the flag for Gauteng, while the Free State’s Grey College and KZN’s Michaelhouse will be aiming to spring a few surprises. ‘House, especially, has shown signs that they could make some noise.

At Selborne, the action will begin on Thursday with a crucial Pool D clash between Clifton and Grey High, while St David’s and Pearson High will lock horns at Clarendon. Both matches start at 15:00.

Groups 

Pool A: St Andrew’s College, Wynberg Boys’ High, Michaelhouse, Stirling High School.
Pool B: Paul Roos Gimnasium, St David’s Marist Inanda, Pearson High, Grey College.
Pool C: Selborne College, Reddam House Constantia, St Alban’s College, Paarl Boys’ High.
Pool D: Clifton College, Grey High, Selborne Collegians, Woodridge College.

Fixtures

Thursday, 13 February 

Selborne College Pool

15:10 – Clifton College vs Grey High School; 16:00 – St Andrew’s College vs Michaelhouse; 16:50 – Paul Roos vs Grey College; 17:40 – Selborne College vs St Alban’s.

Clarendon Aquatic Centre

15:10 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs Pearson High School; 16:00 – Selborne Collegians vs Woodridge College; 16:50 – Stirling High vs Wynberg Boys’ High; 17:40 – Reddam Constantia vs Paarl Boys’ High.

Friday, 14 February

Selborne College Pool

08:00 – St Andrew’s College vs Wynberg Boys’ High;  08:50 – Paul Roos Gimnasium vs Pearson High School; 09:40 – Reddam House Constantia vs Selborne College;  10:30 – Selborne Collegians vs Clifton College;  11:20 – Stirling High vs St Andrew’s College; 12:10 – Paul Roos Gimnasium vs St David’s Marist Inanda; 13:00 – Selborne College vs Paarl Boys’ High; 13:50 – Woodridge College vs Clifton College; 15:30 – 3rd Pool A vs 4th Pool B (Plate quarterfinal 1); 16:20 – 1st Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (Cup quarterfinal 1); 17:10 – 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool A (Cup quarterfinal 2); 18:00 – 1st Pool C vs 2nd Pool D (Cup quarterfinal 3); 18:50 – 1st Pool D vs 2nd Pool C (Cup quarterfinal 4).

Clarendon Aquatic Centre

08:00 – Michaelhouse vs Stirling High; 08:50 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs Grey College; 09:40 – St Alban’s College vs Paarl Boys’ High; 10:30 – Woodridge College vs Grey High; 11:20 – Michaelhouse vs Wynberg Boys’ High; 12:10 – Grey College vs Pearson High; 13:00 – Reddam House Constantia vs St Alban’s College; 13:50 – Selborne College vs Grey High School; 15:30 – Plate quarterfinal 2; 16:20 – Plater quarterfinal 3; 17:10 – Plate quarterfinal 4.

Saturday, 15 February

08:00 – Cup playoff 1; 08:50 – Cup playoff 2; 09:40 – Cup Semifinal 1; 10:30 – Cup Semifinal 2; 11:20 – Plate 7th – 8th playoff; 12:10 – Plate 5th – 6th playoff; 13:00 – Plate 3rd – 4th playoff; 13:50 – Plate final; 14:40 – Cup 7th – 8th playoff; 15:30 – Cup 5th – 6th playoff; 16:20 – Cup 3rd – 4th playoff; 17:10 – Final.

Clarendon Aquatic Centre

08:00 – Plate play-off 1; 08:50 – Plate play-off 2; 09:40 – Plate W QF1 vs W QF 3; 10:30 – Plate W QF2 vs W QF 4.

Curro Hazeldean of Pretoria is also on the march to the big leagues in the Wildeklawer Super Interhigh Series.

They won Group 5 of the competition on Monday in the UJ Stadium in Johannesburg to be promoted to Group 4 in 2026. They accumulated 963 points on the day to beat Die Anker of Brakpan (721) and Hugenote of Springs (587)

The Super Interhigh started back in 1997 and has grown to an athletic series where 50 schools participate in six divisions to showcase their athletic prowess.

The school from the Jacaranda City has also been moving up in the Pretoria Bonde as they will participate in the Wildeklawer B Bond meeting this year.

Victory during this meeting on 20 February will see them run, jump and throw between the big dogs in 2026.

What makes their performance on Monday as a team even more impressive is the fact that they finished second on Saturday during the annual Curro Podium Grand Finale hosted by them at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.

Curro Hazeldean’s sprinter Mukona Manavhela produced another superb performance in the 100m as he won the u17 race in a blistering 10.55 seconds to set a new meeting record. This performance was worth 900 points on the APE-tables.

Manavhela also won the 200m in a quick-fire 21.55 seconds to ensure another meeting record will belong to him. These records set by Manavhela have the potential to stand for a long time.

In the 100m sprint for Boys u19 his teammate Inam Dlunge also crossed the finish line in a new meeting record time of 10.53 seconds. Hoërskool Alberton’s Ryhan Smit (10.65) pushed Dlunge until the end.

Smit’s time was also better than the previous record time.

Die Anker’s JP van den Berg produced an excellent performance in the 3,000m for Boys u19 which he won in eight minutes and 49.82 seconds.

He was in a serious battle with Siyabonga Mbeleki (Curro Hazeldean) to cross the finish line first. Mbeleki’s time of 8:54.07 was also better than the previous meeting record.

Lesibe Dikgale, hurdler of Curro Hazeldean, eased his way to bagging gold in the 110m- and 400m-hurdles for Boys u19. He won the shorter hurdles in a modest 15.29 seconds. He won the Curro Podium race in 14.70 seconds.

In the longer hurdles his time 54.18 seconds bettered the meeting record. It was however more than three seconds slower than his winning time of 50.54 seconds on Saturday. He however still beat his closest rival, Mika Seate (Riebeeckrand, 1:01.30), in the UJ Stadium by more than six seconds.

It was also a good day for the long jumpers in the City of Gold. Four of the five long jump records got new owners. Tiisetso Mosime (u19, 7.04m), Makobe Modisane (u17, 6.82m), Siyanda Dladla (u16, 6.74m) and Kabelo Mnisi (u15, 6.63m) all set new records for their various age groups.

Dladla is from Pretoria Boys’ High, while the rest are all athletes from Curro Hazeldean.

The Team Results:

Overall

1. Curro Hazeldean (963); 2. Die Anker (721); 3. Hugenote (587); 4. Hoërskool Alberton (558); 5. Florida (541); 6. Riebeeckrand (535); 7. Oosterlig (512); 8. Pretoria Boys’ High (346); 9. Pretoria Girls’ High (214).

The 2025 ITEC Grey College Water Polo Tournament runner-up, Jeppe High School for Boys, avenged their 11-14 loss in the final to Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) when the teams met recently on 5 February.

That silver medal-winning performance in Bloemfontein was one of the greatest achievements in the school’s water polo-playing history.

Still, they wanted to show they were capable of even more when they took on Affies again. This time, Jeppe won by four goals, scoring an 11-7 win.

After their impressive exploits in Bloemfontein, the Jeppe water polo team was warmly welcomed when it returned home.

They were invited to tea with the Headmaster, Dale Jackson, on Friday and they were named Jeppe’s Team of the Week on Sunday.

The school explained that the team was honoured because they were the first Jeppe water polo team in many years to make the final of a national tournament.

Jeppe added: “Mr Jackson told the boys, they were being recognised for their positive attitude in and around the pool, for their good behaviour, and for the example they are setting for the younger players in the club.

“You are setting the right tone and people are noticing that,” he said. “Thank you for keeping Jeppe’s name high. You have some big games ahead of you and I’m confident that, win or lose, you will make us proud.”

In further good news for Jeppe water polo, it was announced that head coach Lucky Letshabo had been appointed to the Swimming South Africa Water Polo Technical Committee. His term will last from 2025 to 2028.

In a statement, Swimming South Africa said: “This appointment reflects our confidence in your expertise, dedication, and the value you bring to our mission.”