Rosina face Clapham in inter-district match
Rosina Sedibane Modiba Sports School will face Clapham High School in their first match in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup.
ROSINA Sedibane Modiba Sports School will kick of this term with a soccer match against Clapham High School in their bid for the Kay Mostepe Schools Cup. This Gauteng inter-district clash will take place on Thursday, July 23, on the Rosina soccer field.
Reginald Paterson, deputy principal of Rosina and coach of the team, explains that his team is young and inexperienced but up for the challenge.
“We are no longer affiliated with the SuperSport United Youth Academy,” he said, “so we have to stand on our own feet now. This team has been together for a few years and we are optimistic about them”.
Paterson, who started coaching soccer at Rosina 11 years ago, has a level two coaching qualification and has been with the team since they were u.13s. The 2015 side is basically the school’s u.17 team with a small number of experienced players left over from last year’s competition.
“They have adjusted well to playing at the u.19 level and should they not make it this year they have another two years in this tournament,” Paterson said. “The team has been playing together for a long time so they are used to each other and communicate very well on the field.”
Paterson sees the adjustment to playing without the SuperSport affiliation as an advantage because it means that they will start relying on their own strengths and their own players.
Rosina Sedibane won the Kay Mostepe Schools Cup in 2013 and Paterson is confident that they will reach the finals again this year.
“I have been preaching to the team how important it is to put in the hard work. Clapham has players from the Sundowns Academy and they have been very successful in this tournament before. We played in the local schools league and they beat us 2-0 but that does not mean they will do this again.
“Our strengths lie in our determination to do well and make a name for ourselves. The Supersport United Academy players went over to Holy Trinity and they have been knocked out. Thus there is no reason we should feel intimidated when facing the Sundowns Academy players at Clapham.”
