Madibaz enjoyed an outstanding season on the pitch and thoroughly deserved to lift the PEFA Premier League trophy.
Even a final-round defeat to Central Acemates could not dampen their celebrations after compiling an impressive record of 12 wins, two losses and two draws in their 16-match campaign.
Guided by head coach Lukho Qitsi, the Mandela University outfit will now represent the Pefa league at next year’s regional playoffs, where they will target promotion to the Safa-NMB league.
For Qitsi, a third-year law student in his first season as head coach, the triumph was the product of belief and consistency.
“It really was just a matter of taking it game by game, with the overall objective of improving on last year’s results,” he said.
“We used our performances in 2024 as a reference point for what we wanted to achieve.”
Halfway through the season, with six wins from eight games, he started to believe they “could go all the way”.
While the team never looked too far ahead, their strong start built the confidence needed to push for the title.
“It’s every coach’s ambition to win the league,” Qitsi, who also does duty as the first 11s assistant coach, said. “Once we created that gap, I thought, why not us?”
Clinching the crown is the culmination – and just reward – for the hard yards put in by both the players and support staff.
“Celebrating that success stood out for me, as well as the emotional highs and lows of winning matches against tough rivals like Old Grey, Ibhayi and Callies,” Qitsi, who also has a degree in sport management behind his name, explained.
He firmly believes those results brought the team closer together and served to mould them into a cohesive unit.
Madibaz also reached the semifinals of the League Cup knockout competition, where they lost 2-1 to Callies.
The 23-year-old turned to coaching in Grade 11 when a knee injury cut short his playing ambitions. At first, he assisted with his school’s teams, even after enrolling at the university in 2020.
There the Madibaz Football Technical Lab played a major role in his and other coaches’ development, he said.
“This initiative has been central to our growth, teaching us about coaching, helping us mature as mentors and giving us the freedom to express ourselves while learning to manage the pressures of the role.”
“The Lab”, as he calls it, exposes students to different responsibilities within the coaching environment. It also creates a valuable pipeline of coaches and managers for the club.
“I’m a product of that system and it’s been fundamental in preparing us to succeed.”
Madibaz Sport football manager Mark Tommy said the lab was the foundation of their success.
As much as winning the league was an achievement, he said the true celebration was that it endorsed the lab’s work, which was to prepare talented students for administrative, refereeing and coaching opportunities.
He added that Qitsi was supported by an all-student technical staff, which included the assistant, goalkeeper and fitness and conditioning coaches as well as team manager.
Tommy also lauded the work done by Madibaz head coach and former Bafana Bafana player Elrio van Heerden through this pathway, describing it as crucial to the “holistic development of the technical staff”.