EMALAHLENI — Twenty-two schools from across the eMalahleni Local Football Association (LFA) competed for honours in the 2026 Under-13 Girls Schools League “Champs of Champs” tournament at Witbank High School on Tuesday, 22 September.

The tournament, supported by Glencore and the Mpumalanga Department of Education, brought together zonal winners from Kriel, Location, Klarinet, Ezinambeni and Phola-Ogies for a championship aimed at giving young girls an opportunity to develop their football skills and compete against schools from different communities.

The championship forms part of efforts to strengthen girls’ participation in football at grassroots level, with organisers looking to involve more schools and introduce young players to the sport from an early age.

Martha Mokgaloane Mogadime, known as “Lady Coach uMamkhize wase Phola”, says one of the main objectives of the league is to challenge perceptions that girls should only participate in sports such as netball.

Mogadime, who serves as secretary of the Phola-Ogies Zone, third vice-president of the eMalahleni LFA and chairperson of women’s football in the Nkangala Region, says the association wants to create more opportunities for girls to play football.

With football programmes already catering for older girls, she says the Under-13 league is intended to introduce players to the sport at a younger age, attract more schools and provide young players with a positive activity while developing their sporting talent.

The competition produced two champions, with KwaGuqa Primary School winning the Silver Plate final and Moruti Makause Primary School taking the main “Champs of Champs” title.

 

KwaGuqa triumphs in Silver Plate

KwaGuqa and Nelson Gubeni played to a goalless draw in the Silver Plate final before KwaGuqa secured a 2-0 victory on penalties.

The victory earned KwaGuqa R5 000 and gold medals, while Nelson Gubeni received R2 000 and silver medals.

Buhle Mnisi was named Player of the Tournament in the Silver Plate competition, while Langa Nkosi finished as the competition’s top goal scorer.

KwaGuqa coach Vusi Kabinde, known as “Coach Gattuso”, says the team’s success was significant after the players endured a difficult campaign in the Ezinambeni Zonal League, where they finished at the bottom.

“Beyond winning trophies, the girls learnt the importance of teamwork, discipline, resilience, respect, confidence and never giving up,” Kabinde says.

He says representing their school and community also gave the players a sense of pride and showed other young girls that football offers opportunities to participate and develop their talent.

“For the girls of KwaGuqa Primary School, representing their school and community created a sense of pride and belonging. It also showed other young girls in the community that football is a sport where they can participate, develop their talents and achieve meaningful goals,” he says.

 

Moruti Makause crowned champions

In the main championship final, Moruti Makause produced the biggest result of the day, defeating Alex Mampana Primary School 5-0.

Moruti Makause received R10 000 for winning the championship, while Alex Mampana received R3 000 as runners-up.

Kagiso Nkosi was one of the standout players of the championship, finishing as the main tournament’s top goal scorer and being named Player of the Tournament. Lesego Mmoaeng was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament, while Bongani Mabena was the winning coach.

The championship finalists emerged from zonal competitions. Bonginhlanhla Primary School won the Kriel zone, Sibukosethu represented the Location zone, Alex Mampana came through Klarinet, KwaGuqa represented Ezinambeni and Hlanguphala Primary School qualified from Phola-Ogies.

Each zonal winner received R3 000.

 

Building confidence through football

The tournament also gave coaches an opportunity to expose their players to competition beyond their immediate communities.

Hlanguphala Primary School coach Swelumlomo Vincent Mntungwa says one of his hopes was for the players to become comfortable competing against girls they had never met before.

“I hope and I believe my players learnt to engage with other players coming from different areas. They learnt not to be afraid to play with unknown players and face them for the first time,” Mntungwa says.

He says the support surrounding the tournament and the players’ success can also help change attitudes towards girls’ football.

According to Mntungwa, some families have not always understood or supported girls who want to play football, making tournaments and victories such as these important for the players, their schools and communities.

With the Under-13 championship now established, organisers want to see more schools enter the league and more girls given an opportunity to develop through football.