Ussa wins Safa SAB u.21 Championships

University Sport South Africa (Ussa) was crowned the champions of this year’s South African Football Association (Safa) and South African Breweries (SAB) u.21 soccer tournament after beating Free State 2-0 at Oscar Mpetha Stadium on Saturday.
Ussa’s goals were scored in the second half of the match when both Tebogo Galane and Katlego Banda found the net to the dismay of two times tournament winner Free State. To reach the final Ussa beat Limpopo 4-2 while Free State thrashed Gauteng 3-0 in a trilling semi-final match.
Ussa’s triumph completed what was a great week of football played by the best players within the different provinces in the SAB League. The championships concluded what has been a truly remarkable season of grassroots football development that not only saw players afforded a football opportunity but educational opportunities to further develop them as complete footballers.
The week started on 9 July with all 250 players undergoing the Complete Player Programme aimed at providing key life skills for young footballers to assist them in dealing with social ills that may come their way as they prepare for life as professional athletes.
Another achievement of this season was the quality of officiating in the tournament, the result of a weeklong match officials’ workshop conducted by highly qualified match official instructors. For referees such as Lindiwe Thwala, a female referee from KwaZulu-Natal voted Match Official of the tournament this workshop yielded incredible results.
Speaking at the Oscar Mphetha Stadium, SAB Director of Corporate Affairs and Transformation, Bongumusa Makhathini lauded the great support of all the stakeholders that contributed to the success of the 2016 season of the SAB League.
“We are indeed satisfied with how the 2016 season of the league turned out. We introduced new and innovative methods of maturing our offering to football development and today was a celebration of how the SAB League remains the leading grassroots football development tournament in the country. We look forward to yet another season of demonstrating our commitment to football development,” Makhathini said.
Ussa Coach, Teboho Ramakoa said he was delighted for his players who fought hard to win the championship. “It was a great come back for us. Free State was all over us in the first half but we came back strong in the second half and managed to score two goals to win the match,” Ramakoa said.
Kakata Maponyane, Director of Sport at the University of Limpopo said they were happy to have hosted the championships and also thanked the supporters who came in droves to support the tournament. “It was great to be the host of such a huge championship. This shows that we have world class facilities that can host any international and national event,” Maponyane said.

Story & Photos: Herbert Rachuene – Soccer players from University Sport South Africa in cheerful mood after winning the SAB u.21 National Championships on Saturday.