Virginia High’s Absa Wildeklawer win is a hot topic in Virginia
After winning the Absa Wildeklawer Soccer Tournament, Lekhoba Ngakane, the Soccer Manager at Virginia High School, told SuperSport Schools Plus that the school’s win has made waves in the Free State town.
Ngakane explained that Virginia High is in partnership with the Virginia Sports Academy. In club competitions, they unite as Virginia Sports Academy, but they run out as Virginia High School in school sports events.
Working in that manner helps with the scouting of players and the dual pursuit of football and academics at Virginia High.
Since it opened in 2018, Virginia High has flourished on the football field and attracted national attention, with some players catching the eye of national teams. Oageng Lebesane has earned a place in the u17 South African National Team, while Sello Mokhobo and Lisolethu Tshangela were included in the preliminary squad.
Virginia High also excels in other sporting codes, including netball, and athletics, with Kgotso Tansi and Tshogofatso Tsokodubane representing Free State at the National Athletics South Africa (ASA) Championship in Cape Town during the March holidays.
Despite the school having already achieved so much, Ngakane humbly described winning the Absa Wildeklawer title as “surreal”.
“The school opened in 2018, and we did not have sports at all,” he explained. “We started having sports in 2022.
“That’s when we started with soccer and, in 2023, the Virginia Sports Academy was introduced to our school. To this day, it feels unbelievable, because we have always looked up to schools like Grey College with the facilities that they have.
“We have always looked up to HTS Louis Botha. We have always been scared of HTS Louis Botha. Their dream is not shallow. They take sports very seriously.”
Ngakane credited Head Coach Pitso Mokoena – a former player for Bloemfontein Celtic, Free State Stars, and AmaZulu FC – for Virginia’s success.
Competing at the highest level
It’s not as if Virginia High’s victory at the Absa Wildeklawer tournament was a bolt out of the blue, though. They’ve already made their mark in other major events, including the Engen Knockout Challenge, and they’re the provincial champion in the Engen Cup, having recorded back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.
In 2023, they were also the bronze medallists of the Engen Champs of Champs when competing as Virginia Sports Sports Academy, Ngakane pointed out.
In both 2023 and 2024, they were the provincial champions of the Kay Motsepe Schools Championship, which celebrated 20 years of existence last year.
“It is not by chance that we are where we you say we are,” Ngakane explained. “[It’s because of] the amount of work that we put in before many schools start with their practices or with their matches. We start immediately when we reopen in January.
“With our preseason, I do not want to say it’s harsh, but it’s very hectic. You would swear that we are playing in a PSL League, so it’s not by chance that we are where we are.”
Virginia High also competes in the local SAFA Regional League, known as the Hollywoodbets Regional League, for sponsorship purposes. That’s the fourth tier of domestic football in the South African football pyramid.
Facing older opponents in the league has toughened the school’s players’ mentality and boosted their competitiveness.
Shift in Mindset
In 2024, they finished seventh at the Absa Wildeklawer Soccer Tournament. Ngakane believes that that squad could have won the event, and suggested that it was, in fact, better than the current squad.
“I don’t know what happened, but that team last year was the one that was going to win the Wildeklawer. But I think it’s [our winning] mentality [that won it] this year.”
Virginia’s 2025 squad is younger than last year’s powerful unit. But it is powered by a winning mindset and fighting spirit, which took it to the title in Kimberley.
“When you look at the games in which we conceded first, our team had the mentality to rebound to win those games, so it’s about their mentality. We also learned from last year,” Ngakane said.
“Winning the Wildeklawer is an honour”
“Wherever I go, they [people] keep on saying saying ‘Hello, champ’. It’s wonderful. We do not take it lightly. It’s an honour that we carry as a badge.
“We have written the name of Virginia High School among the best, and when you look at who has won Wildeklawer, it’s HTS Louis Botha and Clapham High School, then you mention Virginia High School,” he added.
Ngakane praised the parents who supported the team throughout the Absa Wildeklawer tournament and HTS Louis Botha for their support during the final, despite the Bloemfontein side being eliminated by Virginia High in the semifinals.
It was, he felt, a remarkable display of sportsmanship that they stood behind Virginia High in the final against the Wildeklawer Academy.
