Paarl Gymnasium, Leifo crowned champs and will represent SA in Singapore

By winning the Kay Motsepe Schools Netball Championship Finals, Paarl Gymnasium and Leifo Iziko Combined School earned a trip to Singapore to represent SA in the International Youth Netball Challenge in October.

Both Paarl (Western Cape) and Leifo (Free State) were crowned champions after they beat Pietersburg Hoerskool 14-6 and Bokamoso Secondary (Gauteng) 14-11 in the finals.

The competition is sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, and it saw 36 schools representing all nine provinces in the U-15 tournament at Konka Family Adventure Resort in Rustenburg on Saturday.

The schools were split into two groups, Botho (a fluent former model C) and Ubuntu (from a disadvantaged background) and both won their stream to earn the trip to Singapore.

Paarl Gymnasium coach Juline van der Merwe said they were excited to have an opportunity to represent the country in Singapore.

“It means a lot, you know we come from a competitive school and we are very grateful for the opportunity that Paarl Gymnasium gives our girls to compete against the best,” Van der Merwe told the media after the match.

“We came from the Western Cape, we are thankful that we can be in such a prestigious event. It is an event where you get an opportunity to play against the best in the country and to just grow as players and as a coach, so it means a lot to us.”

Leifo Iziko Combined School coach Molebatsi Mofokeng said this was the result of the hard work they put in after they finished second last year.

“We worked hard from the district levels because firstly, we played in the districts and we got position one. That’s where we said we should go to provincial and play harder because we needed something,” Mofokeng said.

“Last year, we got position two and we said, now we must come for position one. In the province, we also got position one, so we came here prepared. 

“Remember we come from a township, so it means a lot. These are the small kids, the talent is there you can see and it means a lot.”

Meanwhile, Pietersburg Hoerskool and Bokamoso Secondary walked away with R150,000 cheque each for finishing as runners-up in both streams, while Monument High School from Gauteng and Chiawelo High School from Limpopo received R100,000 after they finished third and will all use the money to upgrade netball facilities at their schools.

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