The 2018-19 domestic football season saw a record 20 players graduate from Varsity Football to PSL clubs – both in the Absa Premiership and National First Division – and Tshireletso Motsogi got the ball rolling in 2019-20.
In 2018, Wits reached their first Varsity Football final only to fall desperately short when TUT scored a last-minute winner to claim their second title in three years.
Then, to add insult to injury, the Johannesburgers failed to finish among the top eight teams at the USSA National Championships held in Port Elizabeth. As a result, they’re absent from Varsity Football 2019.
Despite all this, some positivity emerged when their erstwhile captain, Tshireletso Motsogi was signed by National First Division champions Stellenbosch FC in July.
Considering Motsogi turned 26 earlier, exceeding the Varsity Football eligibility age of 25, he may have thought his chance of becoming a professional footballer had passed him by. Having obtained an Engineering degree in Metallurgy and Materials, he would have been readying himself to enter the corporate world.
However, he has Wits’, and his own, breakthrough Varsity Football campaign to thank for being able to park his off-field career for now.
Wits were non-qualifiers in 2015 when Motsogi arrived at the institution from his home village of Marapyane – which is in northern Mpumalanga but also within touching distance of Limpopo and Gauteng. As a result, he could focus on his studies during his first year.
As a ‘sophomore’, while Wits finished seventh on their return to Varsity Football in 2016, Motsogi played a bit-part role. The versatile midfielder started only one match (a 2-1 loss to CUT) and was named on the bench by then coach Karabo Mogudi in four others. He did though earn selection to the national students team for the CUCSA Games in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
The following year, when Wits again finished seventh, Motsogi didn’t play. While he didn’t turn out in blue and gold, he did do so (again) in green and gold at the Summer Universidade in Chinese Taipei.
However, he truly showed his qualities in 2018. Second-year coach Mark Haskins named him captain and he flourished in the role. Starting every match on Wits’ Road to the Final, Motsogi also contributed four goals. Among them were a stunning free-kick in the derby against UJ (a consolation a 2-1 loss), the opener in a 2-1 win over NWU when he was named FNB Player of the Match, the second in a 4-2 loss against TUT and then the opener in the Final against the same opponents.
Motsogi’s story, highlighting what can be achieved through Varsity Football, is arguably best told through a quote from Wits team manager Sanele Nene ahead of the his name-making campaign.
“Scouting at internal leagues is still also very important as you don’t want to lose those exceptional gems,” Nene told varsitysportssa.com in August 2018.
“So you need to cast your net wide as well and accommodate all students, a lot of our players including our captain Tshire Motsogi are products of our internal league scouting, so you have to find a balance between the two.”
by Carlo Jonkerman
