Motsepe Foundation Championship pacesetters Orbit College FC have a mission to earn the North West province a place in the DStv Premiership.
The Rustenburg-based team leads the table of the second-tier division with 30 points from 17 matches, just two points ahead of another college side, University of Pretoria. The league is currently in remission owing to the Africa Cup of Nations, which started yesterday in Ivory Coast.
The province’s glorious days in the elite league ended five years ago when Platinum Stars were relegated to the lower division in 2018 and subsequently sold off.
Orbit, nicknamed Mswenko, a street term expressing attitude and confidence, are incredibly fearless for a team in their maiden season in the MCL.
Should they continue with this form when the league resumes next month, Orbit can fancy their chances to go all the way to win the championship and earn automatic promotion to the premier league.
The football club was established in 2009 by former Orbit TVET College principal Maryna Marais and her deputy Tumisang Mosito to participate in the inter-provincial college competition. Four years later, the college club went on to buy the status of Rustenburg Sea Eagle FC and started playing in the ABC Motsepe League.
Within two seasons in the country’s third-tier league, Orbit took their opponents by surprise when they won the North West stream of the ABC Motsepe League, ahead of more fancied Buya Msuthu FC, Platinum City Rovers and Ally’s Tigers FC.
The appointment of Pogiso Makhoye in 2018 revived the club’s aspiration to be an outstanding educational institution-based football club.
With the league in recess, Makhoye and his troops have enough time to recharge and come back stronger to protect their log standing against University of Pretoria and other contenders such as Baroka FC, Upington FC, Hungry Lions and Magesi FC.
The last four have accumulated 27 points each.
Orbit’s next league match will be at home, Olympia Stadium, on February 18 against Casric FC.
