The Hollywoodbets Super League will be well represented at the new Varsity Football Women’s tournament that gets underway on Friday, 5 September 2025 at the UJ Soccer Stadium in Soweto.
With six teams plying their trade in the South African elite women’s football league, four will feature in this year’s competition – the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the University of Johannesburg (UJ Ladies), the University of Pretoria-Tuks as well as the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).
Only the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Fort Hare (UFH) will miss out on the 2025 women’s varsity football spectacle.
Completing the eight-team line up for the year are the North West University (NWU), the University of Venda (Univen), University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
This tournament has produced big name stars in women’s football who have represented their country – the likes of Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane – TS Galaxy Queens (TUT), Hilda Magaia (TUT) who now plies her trade in Mexico alongside Amogelang Motau (UWC) and Thembi Kgatlana (UWC).
Other products of this tournament include, among others, Kholosa Biyana – Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (UKZN), Ronnel Donnelly – Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (UWC), Lesego Nkoane – TS Galaxy Queens (Wits), Thalea Smidt – UCT (Tuks) and Bongeka Gamede – Nordsjaelland, Denmark (UWC).
UWC are the defending champions with three titles overall to their name – 2021, 2023, 2024.
But the most successful team in the competition is TUT with six trophies, as they went on an unprecedented run of six wins in a row – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
UWC has lost several players and will be showcasing new talent, with head coach Thinasonke Mbuli saying she won’t put pressure on her troops.
Speaking to varsitysportssa.com this is what Mbuli and other coaches had to say.
“We have a new group of young players, new players that have never played Varsity Football before, we want them to write their story and create their own history, with no pressure. This is for the newcomers, I really want them to do well, because they are coming from our 2nd & 3rd team,” said Mbuli.
“Players love this tournament, it’s a platform where they get exposure, so obviously they are excited that it’s that time of the year. Unfortunately, as a team we didn’t have time to prepare separately for the tournament, so we have used the league games for that to sharpen our skills and be fit and ready for the tournament. So, the team is okay and in good state of mind and ready for Friday.”
Univen are newcomers to Varsity Football Women’s tournament but they want to make a statement, says their coach Mbuyelo Magoro.
“Qualifying for the Varsity Women’s Football was an incredible and thrilling experience for us. The journey was not easy, we had to face about five strong teams to secure our spot. That made the qualification even more special. For us as UNIVEN Ladies FC, this is history in the making, because it’s the very first time the University of Venda will participate in Varsity Football. It’s a huge achievement not just for the team, but for the entire institution, as it marks our debut on a national stage,” said Magoro.
“This is our first time, so we see it as both a challenge and a learning opportunity. The strategy is to focus on teamwork, discipline, and making sure we compete in every single match with confidence. We know the road to qualification was not easy, so we are prepared to put in the same fight and use the tournament as a platform to grow stronger for future competitions.”
Tuks Ladies have feature in all 11 campaigns of the tournament but are yet to lift the trophy, with the best finishes in 2014 and 2012 when they claimed the second spot. Here is head coach Maud Khumalo:
“Preparations went well though time is never enough to cover what we needed as we have new players in a team. As coaches we cannot be satisfied if you still have some grey areas that still needs to be polished. Balance is important, we do have a bit of balance as we still have experience players from last season. Going into this campaign we are looking to give our best, represent the institution with pride we are on a building phase now,” said Khumalo.
“Since it is called a competition, we must compete to our best ability and to our strength and you never know its football anything is possible. What is different this season, is the new young players coming to the team so as mentioned building for next year. First games of the tournament are very important, so we won’t take it for granted we going to give our all.”
Record title holders TUT are eager to return to the glory days when they swept everything on board, winning their first trophy in 2014 all the way to 2019. But it has been a dry spell since then. Head coach Christina Kutumela, also a product of this competition, is spearheading TUT’s revival.
“So far things are going well, the team look ready and excited to start on Friday. Our preparations are good; we are happy with our recruitment as we managed to bring in good youngsters who fit well within our style of play. I expect them to deliver as expected. Last season we did not win but we cannot shy away from the fact that the team did exceptionally well, it was just minor mistakes that cost us the final. We are doing our best to tighten up our squad and make sure we improve in areas where we did not do well,” said Kutumela.
“This year is a completely different ball game, the mind-set is still the same being positive, resilient and positive. The only difference we expect to see this year is to see us lift the trophy. New players are doing well so far and I believe we did our level best to get the balance we needed and close in the gaps from players that left the team. it’s going to be very tough game against UWC as it will be the first game, very interesting game it feels like a final already. We are going to give our A game and leave the rest to God.”
NWU head coach Azania Moshushu says they are ready to rise to the occasion after correcting the mistakes that saw them knocked out in the semi-finals last year by eventual winners UWC.
“Our preparations have been intense but focused. The girls are motivated and understand the significance of this opportunity, not just for themselves, but for NWU as a whole. Qualifying for Varsity Football is not only about us as a team, it is about opening doors for future generations of women footballers at NWU. We understand the responsibility that comes with being the first NWU team to reach this stage. The players know they are carrying the pride of the university community, and that drives us to prepare harder, stay disciplined, and prove that we belong at this level,” said Moshushu.
Wits will be looking to redeem themselves after a torrid time in 2024 when they failed to win any of their group stage matches. Head coach Sphesihle Ngalmane says they are determined to bounce back and give a better showing this year.
“Preparations are going well, we can’t complain. We have been working on the team as a whole since we are looking to have a well-balanced team. We want to do better than last year and get out of the group stages. I expect my girls to have fun and showcase their talents. I expect to see growth in the team. It’s a surprise, just enjoy the show. I expect my players to rise to the occasion. We’ll just take one game at a time for now, our focus is to win our first game against CPUT,” said Ngalmane.
Hosts UJ won the inaugural competition in 2013 and took gold again in 2022. But since then, they squad has changed somewhat with players having graduated and others moved to other teams. Head coach Nthabeleng Modiko, who also played in this tournament, is excited about the new additions to the squad.
“We have players who have graduated, but that gives us the opportunity to give new players a chance to showcase their talent. We’re mixing our Hollywoodbets Super League players with our new players to test their readiness, and they are ready to play. We always want to get to the final, but we understand that it’s a competition and anything could happen. We will do our best to win the tournament, and that’s where we are mentally,” said Modiko.
There are four games on the go on the opening day of competition (Friday, 5 September) with the clash between CPUT and Wits kickstarting the proceedings at midday.
This will be followed by Tuks entertaining newcomers Univen at 2pm, while hosts UJ will take on NWU at 4pm and reigning champions UWC will start the defence of their title at 6pm against TUT.
The list of champions and runners-up:
| Year | Champions | Runners-up |
| 2013 | UJ | TUT |
| 2014 | TUT | Tuks |
| 2015 | TUT | UWC |
| 2016 | TUT | UWC |
| 2017 | TUT | UJ |
| 2018 | TUT | UWC |
| 2019 | TUT | UWC |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to Covid-19 | |
| 2021 | UWC | Tuks |
| 2022 | UJ | UWC |
| 2023 | UWC | UJ |
| 2024 | UWC | TUT |
| 2025 | ??? | ??? |
Most successful universities:
| University | Championships | Runners-up | Winning Year | Runners up year |
| TUT | 6 | 2 | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 | 2013, 2024 |
| UWC | 3 | 5 | 2021, 2023, 2024 | 2015, 2016, 2018 |
| UJ | 2 | 2 | 2013, 2022 | 2017, 2023 |
| Tuks | 0 | 2 | 2014, 2021 | |
By Matlhomola Morake
