21 July 2026
An outstanding unbeaten campaign lifted KZN Coastal A, under the coaching of Keegan Hezlett, to the SASHOC National Week title during the holiday. It also resulted in seven Coastal players being included in the SA u16A squad, and another three in the SA u16B squad.
Coastal A opened their challenge with a goalless draw against Northern Gauteng A. They subsequently scored in their other six matches, winning four of them outright and two in penalty shootouts.
In their second game, they thumped Southern Gauteng B 7-2 and then edged out Western Province A 2-1 in the pool’s key clash. Next, they made heavy work of a 2-1 win over Northern Gauteng B, before closing out with a 3-1 win over Southern Gauteng A.
KZN Inland A produced the most interesting campaign of any side. They began their challenge with a 1-3 setback against Southern Free State A and then fell to a 3-4 defeat against Boland A, leaving them on the back foot and needing to win the rest of their Pool B matches to have any chance of reaching the semifinals.
They delivered and then some, thumping KZN Inland B 6-0 in their next outing before completing their group assignments with two matches on the same day, winning them emphatically, 7-1 against Eastern Province A and 5-0 against Western Province B.
That left Inland A in second place in their group, securing the team a place in the semi-finals. They also boasted the best goal difference after the group stage.
Unfortunately for the home province, that meant it was KZN Coastal A versus KZN Inland A in the semi-finals.
In the big rivalry clash, Inland made a strong start, building a 2-0 lead by halftime. When Coastal captain Cameron White pulled one back for his side, Santi Matroos (feature photo) scored his second of the game to restore Inland’s two-goal advantage.
White responded with his second at the end of the third chukka, and Luke Lambert struck six minutes from the end to send the contest to a penalty shootout, which Coastal won in sudden death by a 4-3 margin.
The final, against Boland A, also ended in a draw, but Coastal’s goalkeeper Bonga Dlomo was superb in the shootout, keeping Boland from scoring, and his side needed every one of those saves, with only Luke Lambert scoring, but it was enough for Coastal to lift the title.
Inland fell 0-1 to Western Province A in the third-place match.
They were rewarded with two players in the SA u16A squad and two in the SA u16B squad.
Hilton College’s Santi Matroos was named the Player of the Tournament. DHS’s Hlompho Morake was named the Most Valuable Midfielder, and Matroos also picked up the Most Valuable Striker Award.
Boland’s Thomas Henn was named the Most Valuable Defender, and Southern Free State’s Reynardt Breytenbach received the Most Valuable Goalkeeper accolade.
SA Schools u16A
Ryan Willis (Northwood, KZN Coastal), Luke Lambert (Westville Boys’ High, KZN Coastal), Bonga Dlomo (Durban High School, KZN Coastal), Cameron White (Northwood, KZN Coastal), Oxolo Ntlali (Durban High School, KZN Coastal), Hlompho Morake (Durban High School, KZN Coastal), Ithani Doyi (Glenwood High, KZN Coastal), Thomas Henn (Paarl Boys’ High, Boland), Eli Baxter (Paarl Boys’ High, Boland), Luke van der Merwe (Paul Roos Gimnasium, Boland), Konrad Gouws (Paul Roos Gimnasium, Boland), Jess Sauls (Hilton College, KZN Inland), Santi Matroos (Hilton College, KZN Inland A), Matthew Jung (Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge, Southern Gauteng), Tanner Napier (Home schooled, Southern Gauteng), Neo Nkoane (Jeppe High School for Boys, Southern Gauteng), Michael Meiring (St Alban’s College, Northern Gauteng A), Reynardt Breytenbach (Grey College, Southern Free State).
SA Schools u16B
Tyler Morilly (Fairmont High, Western Province), Seth George-Louis (Wynberg Boys’ High, Western Province), Luke Presence (SACS, Western Province), Cayden Williams (SACS, Western Province), Samuel Woods (Rondebosch Boys’ High, Western Province), Michael Gillies (Grey High, Eastern Province), Athi Tungata (St Andrew’s College, Eastern Province), Sbusiso Mbamba (Durban High School, KZN Coastal), Unako Swana (Durban High School, KZN Coastal), Ahluma Stefane (Westville Boys’ High, KZN Coastal), Zayd Mohanlall (St Alban’s College, Northern Gauteng A), Shaun Sibiya (Grey College, Southern Free State A), Delon Blignaut (Jeppe High School for Boys, Southern Gauteng B), James Buys (Michaelhouse, KZN Inland), Nthabiseng Ntshingila (Maritzburg College, KZN Inland A), Ryan Bezuidenhout (Paul Roos Gimnasium, Boland), Bryan Hardine (Paarl Gimnasium, Boland), Justin Fairley (St John’s College, Southern Gauteng).