ON A typical Sunday, Rosina Sedibane Sports School coach Reginald Paterson wakes up at four in the morning to begin training with his team.

That and many other such sacrifices finally paid off for Paterson when his team earned the right to represent the country at the Manchester United Nike Premier Cup (MUPC) tournament in the UK in August.

The school was given the rare privilege after they won the SA edition of the MUPC in Soweto at the weekend, beating SuperSport United in the finals of the competition featuring eight teams.

It signalled an end to eight years of near misses .

The two teams have a close relationship, with Sedibane serving as a feeder team to United.

Sedibane boys don't belong to an academy on a full-time basis, but are day scholars who barely enjoy the luxuries mostly afforded to well-resourced academies in the country.

"We try to do our best with the little that we have," said Paterson. "This is my pet project. I want to see if we can really compete against the big guns. It's now happening."