adminMzingaye Sibanda Sports Reporter
MATABELELAND South girls’ Copa Coca-Cola champions Selonga High School are on cloud nine ahead of the Under-17 soccer tournament that will be held at Sakubva High School in Mutare tomorrow. Selonga, winners of the Sylvia Dube annual tournament, wrote themselves a piece of history by qualifying for the national finals despite being a rural day school. Urban and boarding schools have dominated the tournament. Their feat is a success story for women’s soccer in a province that has always lagged behind in most sports.
Their qualification makes it three in a row in the Coca-Cola tournament.
Selonga were drawn in Pool A with defending champions Vainona of Harare and Mosi-Oa-Tunya High School of Victoria Falls.
Mqondisi Mguni believes Selonga can turn their fortunes around this time as they want to progress beyond the group stages where their campaign ended last year.
“We have prepared well so far, as we want to go beyond the group stages, we are not strangers to the tournament, we have been there three times in a row, so we want to use that to our advantage,” said Mguni.
Selonga are hoping to emulate Mzingwane High School’s feat in the boys’ category and bring the crown to Matabeleland South.
Matabeleland South Under-16 boys’ champions Gwanda High School are in Pool D with Howard and Churchill High Schools.
Meanwhile, defending champions Mzingwane High School are in Pool A with Ngezi Barracks and Zvishavane High School.
Mzingwane High School will be out to defend their crown, as coach Bekezela Mavundla promised nothing less than a win.
Matabeleland South has two teams in the boys’ category as Mzingwane High School qualified on the virtue of being the defending champions while Gwanda were provincial winners.
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