The Vhembe-based Benny’s Care Academy will represent the province in the finals of the richest schools competition, the U/19 Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup football tournament.

Benny’s and the winners and runners-up of the eight other provinces will battle it out for the R1 million prize at the national finals that will take place in Bloemfontein from 3 to 6 October.

The preliminary for the 18 teams will take place from 3 to 5 October at the Clive Solomon Stadium and the Mangaung Outdoor Sports Centre, while the final game will take place on 6 October at the Central University of Technology Stadium.

The coach of Benny’s Care, Mr Justice Matloga, says the competition is about pride and honour. “This is the third consecutive year that we have made it to the national finals; a statistic we are proud of and we want to keep the tradition going. We want to be the first team in Limpopo to win the tournament,” he added.

“Coaching these boys has brought nothing but joy to my heart as I have seen how they have grown in confidence each year,” he added. The other Limpopo team to participate in the competition is Mimosa High from Capricorn.

The Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup is an initiative co-funded by Sanlam, the Ubuntu-Botho Community Development Trust and the Motsepe Family Foundation. It is open to all high schools in South Africa. The winner will walk away with R1 million, with R600 000, R500 000 and R400 000 for the second-, third- and fourth-placed schools respectively. Each provincial winner will receive an additional R100 000.