The team from Tshikota High did the region proud by winning bronze at the Kay Motsepe U/19 Cup. The team narrowly missed out on playing in the final, but still secured R600,000 in prize money for their school.

Tshikota High were impressive throughout the tournament, held at Bergsig Akademie in Rustenburg from 24 to 28 September. Their first match was on Tuesday against the KwaZulu-Natal-based Mningi High, whom they beat 3-0. Later in the afternoon, they faced Jojo Secondary from the Eastern Cape and won 3-1.

On Wednesday, they came up against St Marks from Mpumalanga. At the end of regulation time, the scores were tied at 1-1, sending the match to a penalty shootout. Tshikota won the shootout 4-3, advancing to the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, things went wrong for the Vhembe side in the semi-finals, as they lost 1-0 to Eletsa High from North West Province. Tshikota’s coach, Mr Justice Matloga, believed the team should have won. “We missed brilliant opportunities,” he said, adding that they lost focus in defence, allowing their opponents to score a soft goal.

Despite the setback, Matloga was extremely proud of his team’s performance. Tshikota went on to play against Shayamoya High from KZN for the bronze medal and won. The match ended in a goalless draw and went to a penalty shootout, which Tshikota won 4-3.

The Kay Motsepe Schools Championship is one of the country’s biggest school sports events, bringing together more than 13,000 school teams to compete in various sports. It is sponsored by Sanlam in partnership with the Motsepe Foundation. The Kay Motsepe Cup also offers young players the opportunity to be scouted by selectors from the country’s top professional teams.