By Wandile Goba
MVSL All Stars are the newly crowned champions of the University of Johannesburg’s Internal League for the first time despite losing their last game of the season 4-2 to Kingsway Spartans on a cold evening at the University of Johannesburg’s Bunting Road Sports Complex in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.
The team established by Martini Varsity Lodge Residence came to the game already winners of the Campus Football League, Promotional League as they were five points clear at the top of the log ahead of Electrical F.C. who were runners-up of the university’s league.
MVSL All Stars’s head coach Nhlakanipho Shange shared his feelings about winning the the Promotional Laegue . “The best feeling in the world! You know that feeling you get after seeing the results of all your hard work. a bit of mixed emotions too, you happy while you are not sure if it is really you winning”, he said.
MVSL All Stars improved as they only finished fourth in their last season’s campaign. “The previous season we were a good team but not good enough to win us anything and be recognized amongst the best teams. The previous season we finished a number four which was disappointing for us and our supporters”, Shange said.
The team went through a restructuring programme after their last season’s campaign that would eventually lead to their success this season. “We had to change our mindset as players and approach every match like it is the final game of any tournament. We had to restructure the team, at some point we would bump heads because we individuals with different ideas but we would always come back because we knew what we wanted as a team and that is to win may trophies”, the coach said.
Shange took us through some of the preparations preseason and some of the standout highlights for the team during the season. “Preparations were intense. Firstly we had to make sure that every player was fit, mentally, physically and spiritually. We had preseason games to evaluate whether our players were fit and were in the right shape before the league started. Once we started then we had a mission to say we should play the first ten games without any lose and we did. We made sure players got enough rest before games, and sometime camps just so we are prepared”, Shange said.
“Our fans were my favourite highlight of the season. Despite the unfavourable weather conditions sometimes, the fans always came through for the team. It’s like how Anfield supporters do. They were always there singing and encouraging us. Another standout highlight of the season was the players, always at training and dedicated to winning”, he added.
MVAL All Stars have been promoted to the Major League division of the UJ Internal League. “Currently we are not resting because we just love playing. We are busy playing tournaments just so we boost the confidence of players. Since we got promotion to the Major League division, we want to also win it and break records because we are a winning team”, the coach said.
MVSL All Stars finished concluded their league campaign with 12 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. They have scored a total of 42 goals.
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