Navalsig High coach reveals how they secured R3m Kay Motsepe prize

Mzwakhe James says Navalsig High’s preparation, experience and detailed planning helped the Free State school defeat Urban Academy and win the 2026 Kay Motsepe Schools Championship U-19 title.

The Bloemfontein side were crowned champions at Giant Stadium on Wednesday after a comprehensive victory in the final, earning the school a R3 million prize.

Speaking after the trophy presentation, James said his players’ success was the result of months of work.

“It feels good, we were looking forward to this moment, the players have been working hard,” he said.

“We had an early start on the fifth of January, we started preparing for this moment and this is the reward for their efforts, talents and everything we can think of.”

Navalsig High’s players also benefit from competing in the Hollywood Regional League, where they regularly face older opponents and play full 90-minute matches.

“These boys are ready, we have a bunch of soldiers,” James said.

“We also play in the Hollywood Regional League, so we come and bring the experience here. They are playing with much older guys, they are used to 90 minutes. It helped us a lot, nothing really fazes us when it comes to High School football.”

Urban Academy had the support of former Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp, who watched the final after being appointed the academy’s Director two months ago.

But James said his team were not discouraged by their opponents’ profile or preparations. Instead, they studied Urban Academy’s semi-final and identified how their centre-backs looked to attack the space behind Navalsig High’s defence.

“We’re never intimidated, we believe in what we do, we believe in our style of play,” he said.

“We did our homework, we watched their game of the semi-final, and we could tell what they were trying to do. Their centre-backs were trying to find the space behind us, to play for the second ball. So we dealt with it very well, they [the boys] stuck to the script.”

The tournament also attracted interest from professional clubs, with several scouts asking about Navalsig High’s players.

“There’s a lot of scouts [who enquired], we were referring them to the Team Manager,” James said.

James believes Navalsig High can challenge for the title again next year, with about 90% of the squad expected to remain available.

“Luckily we still have 90 percent of the same team for next year, if the players are not selected by bigger clubs and whatnot,” he said.

“So we continue, go back to the drawing board, we humble ourselves and work extra hard for next year.”

James was also named Coach of the Tournament.