A long road to the top for boys and girls alike in Border

Schools SA20 Volume 3 gets under way in the Border region on 3 September (boys) and 4 September (girls), and few provinces in the competition ask more of their qualifiers before a champion is crowned.

Border's route to the business end of the season runs through ten sub-regions in the boys' division - Alice, Healdtown, Peddie, Middledrift, Mdantsane, Chris Hani, Buffalo Flats, KuGompo City (formerly East London), Qonce and Maletswai - and seven in the girls' division, namely Alice, Healdtown, Middledrift, Mdantsane, Chris Hani, Buffalo Flats and KuGompo City. It is a long and, in a province covering as much ground as Border does, a literally winding road to provincial honours - teams must first win their own sub-region before they even reach the provincial playoffs that lead to the finals.

That battle of attrition has, in its first two installments, produced clear standard-bearers. On the boys' side, Selborne College have been imperious, winning both volumes played to date and taking a different sub-regional rival through to Phase 2 with them each time - Queen's College (Chris Hani) in Volume 1, and Alice Hub in Volume 2. Two volumes, two titles, and two different provincial companions carried along for the ride: it is as complete a case as any school in Border can make for being the team every sub-region winner will be targeting in Volume 3. Selborne's Volume 2 pedigree runs deeper still - they went all the way through to Finals week at the University of Pretoria earlier this year, proof that the school's ambitions this season stretch well beyond another provincial title.

The girls' competition has told an equally one-sided story, with Stirling High School collecting the province's honours in both Volumes 1 and 2. Like Selborne (their KuGompo City near-neighbours), Stirling now carry the target that comes with back-to-back success into a new season where every one of the seven sub-regions will be plotting to end that run.

What makes Border compelling is precisely the structure working against both incumbents. Ten sub-regional boys' battles and seven girls' equivalents must all be settled before the provincial playoff picture even takes shape, meaning Selborne and Stirling cannot simply cruise past a handful of familiar rivals - they must first survive their own sub-region including the strong co-ed set of Cambridge High School, Hudson Park High School, Hoërskool Ooskus Gimnasium and Port Rex Technical High School, then get past whoever else has done the same, all before a ball is bowled in the finals.

Those finals are now locked in: the Border boys' decider goes ahead on 22 October, with the girls' final following a day later on 23 October. Between now and then lies a genuine test of depth across two of Border's most demanding sub-regional systems - and the question of whether anyone in the province can finally dethrone Selborne or Stirling before the season is done.

ALL THE BORDER VOLUME 3 PLAYOFFS DATES

Boys

8-11 October 2026: Quarterfinals

20 October 2026: Semifinals

22 October 2026: Provincial Final

Girls

1 October 2026: Eliminator 1, Eliminator 2

8 October 2026: Qualifier 1

16 October 2026: Qualifier 2

23 October 2026: Provincial Final

Select matches to be live-streamed on the SuperSport Schools App. Stay tuned to Schools SA20 social channels for further details.