Wits university will be involved in their third Varsity Football campaign, when the 2016 season gets underway on the 18 July against TUT in Pretoria.
The Johannesburg outfit this season will be led by Kaizer Maphanga, who will look to help the team improve on their 2015 season. Last year the Witsies lost out to eventual 2015 champions, University of the Western Cape in the semi-finals.
The Witsies’ first tournament involvement came in 2013, where they struggled from the onset, finishing their campaign seventh on the log, which meant that they failed to progress through to the knockout phase of the tournament.
The 2014 season then saw Wits fail to qualify for the tournament due to falling short of the qualifying positions in the log standings at the conclusion of the USSA national club championships leading up to the 2014 Varsity Football season.
In 2015, Wits returned with a different mindset and goals for the tournament, when at the USSA club championships in 2014 they improved on their previous disaster season by finishing in fourth place, which in turn lead to automatic qualification. Last season then saw Wits display their best performances in the tournament since its inception, when they fared better than their previous stint.
The improved performances in the 2015 season led to them qualifying for the knockout phase of the tournament for the very first time, where they were defeated by eventual champions UWC in a mouthwatering semifinal that had to be decided via a penalty shootout.
Coach Karabo feels that the team was a little disappointed last season when they failed to go all the way in the tournament. When asked how the team took bowing out in the semi-finals coach Karabo said, “As coaches we were happy with the progress even though we felt we could have won the game in regulation time or even in the penalty shootout. The players took it a little hard as they also believed they could’ve gone all the way and won the tournament.”
This season things will definitely be a little different with teams coming out with changed squads and better strategies. When asked about the team’s ambitions for the upcoming season coach Karabo said, “Managing the players will be crucial because we are dealing with university students, who also have to balance their football with a heavy academic curriculum but we will be going out there looking to win every game. I am not saying we will be the best but we are definitely going out to win the tournament this time around.”
The tournament kicks off on the 18th July with Wits facing TUT at TUT Stadium at 18:30.
By Sifiso Nyawo
