The commitment and dedication shown by the girls' soccer team from Edendale Technical High School in the KwaZulu-Natal Province and the boys’ team from Clapham High School in the Gauteng Province in the National Schools Sport Championship (NSSC), has finally paid off. The two schools represented South Africa at the 2022 Confederation of African Football (CAF) African Schools Championships (COSAFA Level) held in Malawi from 28 October – 1 November 2022. The two schools competed in the under 15 category, ending up as the overall winners of the NSSC.

The SA teams underwent vigorous stages during the Championships, with Clapham High qualifying in group A of the competition, therefore, ending up meeting a team that finished second in Group B. Clapman High was then pitted in the finals of the competition against Salima Secondary School from Malawi with Clapham High ending up winning the final 1 – 0 with a goal netted by Sibusiso Tolomane. The competition ended with three leading goal scorers in the boy’s category, amongst them, Sibusiso Tolomane from Clapham High. The girls team played in a round-robin format of the competition with them winning all their matches, therefore, reaching the final of the competition where they faced Mothamo Junior Secondary School of Botswana. The SA girls’ team was able to hold the fort and ultimately scoring three goals, beating the Botswana school girls’ team 3 – 0. The top goal scorer in the girl’s competition was Nobahle Mdelwa from Edendale Technical School with seven goals. Both teams received $100,000 (R1.8 million) prize money as the overall winners of the competition.

Both schools emerged as the winners of the NSSC Winter games that were held in Benoni, Gauteng in July 2022. The DBE and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) have been partnering as the custodians of the NSSC since 2012. The African Schools Football Championship is one of its flagship programmes aimed at developing boys' and girls’ football in Africa, with 41 countries, 18,000 schools and 450,000 young boys and girls having taken part in the Africa Schools Football Programme to date. Mr Bongani Zondi, Deputy Director for Sport and Enrichment said, “As the basic education sector, we have learnt over the years that learners who have participated in sport appeared very disciplined and excelled academically”. Mr Zondi extended his gratitude to DSAC National and Provincial coordinators of the NSSC for their sterling work in developing young sporting talent in the country. “The future of South Africa's sport depends on young people who are committed to sporting activities, especially at school level and we intend to groom young people to become future professionals”.

The two schools will represent the COSAFA region during the CAF African Schools Championship at the Ivory Coast from 15 to 19 April 2023.