After clinching the Sanlam Kay Motsepe School Football Championship U-19 boys trophy at Giant Stadium in Soshanguve and pocketing R3m, St Marks International School from Mpumalanga plans to use the money for bursaries for deserving children whose parents cannot afford their education.
The Kay Motsepe Schools Championship is one of SA’s most prestigious school football tournaments, offering over R11 million in prize money.
St Marks beat Fumana from Gauteng 1-0 in the final and walked away with R3m, which will go to the school’s infrastructure development.
St Mark’s coach Lungile Mokone said the money will come in handy to support deserving children.
Where we are coming from, there are a lot of children who cannot afford it, so I think the school will have opportunities for bursaries because we have children who are talented,...
— Lungile Mokone, St Mark’s coach
“Where we are coming from, there are a lot of children who cannot afford it, so I think the school will have opportunities for bursaries because we have children who are talented, but most of their parents cannot afford [the school fees],” Mokone told the media after the final.
“We are very happy to have won the tournament...[and]... it will change a lot for the children in our area.”
Queenswood beat Madika 5-0 in the U-13 boys final, while St Anne’s U-13 girls beat St Mark’s 5-4 on penalties.
Bongani Zondi, deputy director for the basic education department, said they will monitor how the funds are spent in the winning schools.
“Some of these schools use the prize money to purchase buses so the children are provided with the opportunities to be transported to various games and various schools as they compete,” he said.
“What we do [as the departments of education sports and culture], as well as the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, is monitor the progress in terms of what the schools have identified as their programme. It can also be in the form of developing academic resources, such as libraries.”
Sowetan
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