Teen ball wizard astounds mates
Vries leads Clapman High to Copa win despite mourning
A day of mourning ended in jubilation as Tshepo Vries led Clapham High School to triumph at the Copa Coca-Cola national finals at the weekend.
The Vries family buried the brother of Tshepo’s grandfather in Heidedal, Bloemfontein, on Saturday morning.
In the afternoon the family watched as their beloved son dazzled the crowd in the final as Clapham outclassed John Dube High School (KwaZulu-Natal) 2-1 at the Mangaung Outdoor Complex.
With the family dressed in black attire straight from the funeral, the 15 year old wiped the grief off their faces.
The Grade 8 pupil, who is a boarder at the school in Pretoria, only gets to see his family during holidays.
The nimble ball wizard is pursuing his dream of becoming a professional footballer at Clapham, which houses Mamelodi Sundowns academy players, where he is a member. The winger’s combination of agility and trickery left defenders in the tournament perplexed.
His mother, Ria Tshabalala, was overcome with joy as her son made her proud playing in front of his home crowd.
“At first it was not easy for me to deal with him being so far away from the family in Pretoria, but now I can see that he is serious about being a professional soccer player,” said the elated mom.
While many were disappointed that the sensational playmaker did not win any individual award, the shy youngster said: “I couldn’t go to the funeral, but I am happy we won and I know my grandpa would be very proud. I want to follow Percy Tau because he was also at our school.”
The under-15 national finals, which started Thursday and ended Saturday, were contested by provincial champions.
The team is coached by former Sundowns midfielder Isaac Shai and Clapham teacher Johannes Petje.