By Katleho Chitja
BLOEMFONTEIN – TenPont FC returned from the 2026 Engen Champ of Champs with valuable experience after the Bloemfontein-based Under-18 side tested itself against some of the country’s leading youth teams in Pretoria.
TenPont represented the Free State at the national finals, held from 2 to 4 October at the Tuks High Performance Centre, after securing its place through the provincial playoffs in August with a victory over Royal Remember FC.
The Engen Champ of Champs brings together provincial qualifiers from across the country and has established itself as an important platform for young players hoping to break into professional football, while giving scouts an opportunity to identify emerging talent.
Drawn in Group A, TenPont faced a demanding line-up that included Kaizer Chiefs FC, Easthigh Academy, Pixley Youth and Tshepo Academy.
The Free State side made a positive start to its campaign, defeating Tshepo Academy 2-1 to collect three points on the opening day. However, TenPont then suffered a 4-2 defeat against Pixley Youth.
The challenge intensified on the second day when TenPont faced Kaizer Chiefs, going down 3-1 before losing 1-0 to Easthigh Academy in its final group match.
The results brought TenPont’s national campaign to an end, but coach Lebogang Shomolekae believes the experience will benefit the young players as they continue their development.
“I feel happy to guide the team to reach this stage and put the name of the team on the national map. I am very privileged to showcase the talent we have on the national stage,” said Shomolekae.
“It was a very challenging experience as debutants in the national finals, which needs one to have a big mind when approaching those kinds of matches, but I am excited about the journey as we also learned that the level of our province needs to improve compared to other provinces.”
With the national experience behind them, TenPont have shifted their focus to the IBL Promotional League, where they will be looking to turn the lessons from Pretoria into results.
“We learned a lot of things from our trip last week and now the aim will be to improve the standard and show the teams what we learned from the national finals,” said Shomolekae.
TenPont finished second in the league last season, and the coach says the objective this time is clear: to go one step further and secure promotion to the Hollywoodbets Men’s Regional League.
“Last season we ended up in position two and the objective this season will be to do better and gain promotion to Hollywood Men’s Regional League,” he said.
