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Provincial sporting entourages will arrive in KuGompo City between Wednesday and Thursday for the marquee Winter National School Sport Championship event starting on Friday.
The first group expected to arrive in Buffalo City is the province of the Western Cape, which was crowned the overall Winter NSSC champions last year.
The games will include hockey, rugby, volleyball and soccer and will run until Tuesday.
The event, according to the organisers, is expected to attract about 3,000 people, including athletes, technical officials, team managers and parents from all nine provinces.
Stirling High, Clarendon High, Beaconhurst, Hudson Park, iYunivesithi Walter Sisulu’s Potsdam, ABSA Stadium and Hamiltons Rugby Club will be the venues, as confirmed at the weekend by the provincial sports department.
The publication reported in May that local federations were expected to submit final reports and recommendations on the suitability of identified venues.
Hudson Park, Clarendon and the Potsdam campus, will be custodians for U14 and U17 volleyball clashes from Saturday until Monday.
For football, Baysville and Beaconhurst, Hamiltons and Crescents will be the venues for the U17 (girls), U15 (boys and girls) and U17 (boys) on Saturday and Sunday.
On Monday, the BCM Stadium will host the football finals of all the age groups.
Stirling will be used as a rugby venue for U14 boys and girls, while its newly built turf is expected to host most of the hockey programme, including U14 boys’ and girls’ games.
“The Eastern Cape is ready to welcome South Africa. These championships represent far more than a sporting competition; they are a celebration of youth excellence, unity, discipline and the limitless potential of our young people.
“We have worked tirelessly with our partners to ensure that every venue is prepared and every detail is in place to deliver a championship worthy of our province and our nation,” sport, recreation, arts and culture MEC Sibulele Ngongo said.
The Eastern Cape sent 133 athletes to the KwaZulu-Natal edition in 2025.
The team finished third on the national medal table, behind Team Western Cape and Team KwaZulu-Natal.
They will be looking to better that on home soil.
It was still unclear on Monday how many children would represent the home province this time around.
Eastern Cape Schools Football secretary Zolile Mpobole previously said hosting the games would benefit their football teams.
“When you travel away to other provinces, it becomes hard to acclimatise as the travelling takes a toll on the players, but playing at home means they will be rested, and Buffalo City is the central venue for all our players,” Mpobole said.
Buffalo City was given the green light to host the games in May after authorities scrambled to address concerns over substandard sporting facilities flagged during an earlier inspection in February, where national inspectors raised concerns about the state of sporting facilities in the metro, particularly proposed venues for volleyball and soccer.
While rugby and hockey venues met requirements, organisers were forced to find suitable alternatives for soccer and volleyball or risk losing the championship.
They passed a second inspection in May.
Daily Dispatch
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