Plumstead High crowned u-19 schools soccer champs

It’s official, Plumstead High’s under-19s are Cape Town schools soccer kings.  The newly-crowned Kay Motsepe regional champions will represent the Metropole at next week’s provincial championships in Beaufort West, following a hard-fought 1-0 win against Bonteheuwel’s Modderdam High, in last week’s finals, in Bishop Lavis.

In an evenly-matched contest, Plumstead’s Keron Jacobs sealed the deal for his side with a well-timed header coming off a corner in the final minutes of the game, to help his side lift the trophy.

Arguably one of the biggest school soccer competitions in the country, the tournament, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, features more than 5000 high and primary schools competing in regional tournaments in all provinces. Locally, the top schools in the  Western Cape Education Department (WCED) school districts in the Cape Metropole, including Metro Central, East, North, and South, qualified for a spot in the last round of 32 of the competition.

The action kicked off at the beginning of the month at various venues across the city with each district represented by eight under-13 boys’ and girls' primary school teams and eight under-19 boys' high school squads.  The cream of the crop qualified for last week’s regional finals, with Plumstead and Fairview Primary’s girls under-13s, from Grassy Park,  flying the flag for the South in their respective divisions.

The finals were contested by six schools from the different districts, with the winners qualifying for next week’s provincial championships in Beaufort West and a shot at collecting the R100 000 winners’ prize money in the primary schools division and R120 000 in the under-19 boys section. Ultimately, it came down to Central versus South, Modderdam up against Plumstead, the latter emerging victorious and following in the footsteps of their junior counterparts who won last year’s under-16 Gavin Manuel Memorial Schools Legacy Cup, in Mitchell’s Plain.

Coach Faeed Amardien, who has been at the school for five years, was on the sidelines on both occasions and at other recent tournaments.

“So far, they have been successful in nearly every competition that they have taken part in, winning three out of four competitions that we entered. And all of it was first-time entries,” he said.

“For the first time earlier this year, we took part in the Wynberg Boys Freedom Cup and made it to the quarter-finals,” he said. 

Amardien said it can be challenging to balance teaching and coaching with limited time on his hands, but it is worth every minute spent in the classroom and on the pitch.. 

“It is so fulfilling and rewarding, especially if learners come out victorious,” he said.