The South African football season concluded with the SAFA Second Division playoffs in Cape Town, where two Varsity Football players helped their clubs to promotion to the professional ranks.
Malesela Chokoe and Jay-Dee Adams are set to play in the 2019-20 National First Division season after their teams, JDR Stars and Steenberg United respectively, finished first and second in the playoffs. There they will join many former and current Varsity Football players, not least those at University of Pretoria.
Chokoe, who completed his Sport Management studies at Vaal University of Technology in 2017, represented and captained the institution during the 2015 Varsity Football season – their only one to date.
On the club front, the Ga-Matlala-born centre back has been a regular in South Africa’s third tier. He started at Mpumalanga-based Mighty Mega Force, before moving to the Eastern Cape in 2011 where he spent three seasons with FC Buffalo. When he began his studies at VUT in 2014, he also started turning out for their club side until they were relegated in 2016, whereafter he joined Vaal Professionals. This past season was the 28-year-old’s first with JDR, based in Pretoria.
Adams, meanwhile, was part of the Ajax Cape Town youth set-up before transferring to Steenberg United. As it happens, the 21-year-old from Stellenbosch may now get the opportunity to play against former teammates – should Ajax’s hopes of buying their way back into the Premier Soccer League’s topflight not materialise.
For the last two years, while doing his Economic Development studies at University of the Western Cape, Adams – nicknamed ‘Tower – has been a steady presence in the former Varsity Football winners’ rearguard and will hope to carry his club success over to his varsity.
UWC will start their 2019 campaign away at UFS Kovsies on 25 July.
