The under 15 and 17 tournament, which is in its thirteenth year, was expected to kick off on 21 March at the Brebner High School grounds in Bloemfontein. However, a notice released by the Brebner Headmaster, Andrew Taylor, on Friday, reveals uncertainty around the rapid spread of the virus informed the decision to effectively postpone the tournament, sponsored by Nedbank, McDonalds and Hi-tec.

The OFM News team sat down with one of the organisers of the tournament, Lee-Sheldon Batemen, earlier this week. Batemen revealed the competition, which focuses on development, this year, managed to attract 32 teams across the two age groups from schools as far as Zimbabwe, Mahikeng, (North West), Kimberley (Northern Cape), Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape) and Pretoria (Gauteng). A large number of these travelling teams were to be accommodated at Brebner’s Bloemfontein hostel.

This as the number of cases in South Africa has risen to 38 - the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. On Saturday, the Health Department led by Minister Zweli Mkhize, announced 14 more people had tested positive for COVID-19, the bulk of which are in the Gauteng province. More 156 000 people worldwide including celebrities, sports stars and politicians have tested positive for COVID-19, while just under 6000 people have died. The number of recoveries, however, is teetering on 74 000, a sign that the disease can be managed.

Taylor concludes his notice by saying the revised date of the tournament depends on the level of certainty regarding the virus at the time.

The history of the tournament

In the interview, Bateman broke down the tournament’s thirteen-year history at length, speaking on the sponsors it has had over the years including Spur and Hi-tec. The latter of which was the main sponsor of the tournament for just under a decade. He emphasises the significance of development in the meet revealing they want all the teams to play as much as possible throughout the three-day tournament.

For the bulk of its existence, the tournament targeted the often overlooked under 14/15 age group, but phased out the under-14 section in 2019 because they realised some schools were not big enough to have two teams in those age groups. So, they’d often send one. The phasing out of the under-17 age in the Engen knock out challenge created space for organisers of the Nedbank Brebner High School tournament to include under 17 fixtures in the competition, a move that proved to be successful and popular with participating schools.

The postponement of the tournament is not something out of the ordinary amidst the coronavirus. Professional sports leagues have postponed games after some athletes tested positive for COVID-19 in Europe and the US. Locally, the crowd-drawing Cape Town International Jazz Festival has also been postponed.

OFM News/Olebogeng and Leatile Leiee