Since 2025, the tournament has been backed by headline partner SportPesa, one of South Africa’s biggest sportsbooks, after building a decade-long football sponsorship footprint stretching from Gor Mahia and Simba SC to Cape Town City, Everton and Southampton.
The men’s competition features 8 university teams playing a single round-robin log across 7 rounds, with the top sides advancing to semi-finals and a final.
This year’s field includes UJ, NWU, UFS, TUT, Wits and UP-Tuks, alongside returning side UWC and newcomers University of Limpopo.
University of the Free State are the defending champions, having beaten TUT 5-4 on penalties after a goalless final in 2025 to win their maiden title. TUT remain the most successful side in the competition’s history with 4 titles overall.
The women’s competition is more condensed, split into two groups of four playing over a shorter window.
Group A features UJ, Wits, UWC and CPUT, while Group B has TUT, WSU, UL and UP-Tuks, with the top two from each group progressing to the semi-finals.
UWC are the defending champions, chasing a fourth consecutive title after winning in 2023, 2024 and 2025. TUT remain the all-time leaders on the women’s side with 6 titles.
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Photo: Asem Engage – Hannes Naude
