The second round of the Grahamstown High Schools Football League kicked off last week, although the first match did not take place.
The opening round two match between TEM Mrwetyana Secondary School and Mary Waters Secondary School was abandoned last Wednesday, because of a teacher’s meeting, said Mandla Gagayi, coordinator of the high schools league.
The second round of the Grahamstown High Schools Football League kicked off last week, although the first match did not take place.
The opening round two match between TEM Mrwetyana Secondary School and Mary Waters Secondary School was abandoned last Wednesday, because of a teacher’s meeting, said Mandla Gagayi, coordinator of the high schools league.
The match was supposed to have started at 3pm at the JD Dlepu fields. When Grocott’s Mail arrived the gates were locked and the spectators were waiting outside.
Apparently there was a misunderstanding as Mary Waters players went to the field with the hope of playing against Mrwetyana.
According to Gagayi he informed Mary Waters about the new arrangements. "I told the team that the match had been abandoned and they shouldn’t have gone there in the first place."
The league, which was started in 2006 by the Rhodes University sports administration, comprises nine local schools.
According to Gagayi "we thought that it would benefit the learners to have something to do after school." The schools play twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.
When asked about who sponsors the league Gagayi said. "We have no particular sponsor as we are self sustained.
When we started the league in 2006 the winning team would just be given a kit as the schools involved had no kits. Now that every school has a kit we have a floating trophy for the winners and medals."
Gagayi said that since 2006 when the league was started they have seen a lot of improvement both on and off the field. "There is a big difference between when we started and now.
For instance most schools didn’t have kits as I mentioned earlier and now all nine of them have kits, and we are also contributing to the community as we train referees through workshops," he said, before adding that there was always room for improvement.
On Friday the Nombulelo Secondary School vs Benjamin Mahlasela Secondary School 1st team match was also postponed, because one of the school’s sports teachers had to go out of town unexpectedly, said Gagayi.
Gagayi added that it is the policy of the league not to play games if one of the schools does not have a representative.
The next game is scheduled for tomorrow between Kutliso Daniels Secondary School and Ntsika Secondary School, which will hopefully kickstart the second round.
