Financial losses incurred by Rygate LFA and Cubs Festival raises serious questions about inception of new u.21 tournament

The Rygate LFA recently announced that their female team, Rygate Women FC, is set to host an under 21 tournament for ladies and men which will take place from 25 to 29 March 2026 at the Johnson Road Sports Complex in Rylands.

This also happened to be the same dates as the SportPesa Cup would have taken place, but this has now been postponed.

The official launch and draw of Rygate’s new u.21 event will take place on 15 March at 10:00 AM at the Belthorn Civic Centre – and for the sake of the organisers, one hopes that this tournament will grow, not just in terms of numbers, but also financially.

Now, No Bones with Jones had the opportunity of going through the financial statements of the Rygate LFA for the 2025 financial year, which was released some time ago – and the state of affairs does not look good at all.

Now, apart from one of the notable observations, which is that the Rygate LFA are in the red by R227 755, there’s another striking fact which is that the popular Rygate Cubs Festival, which is their flagship event, has been operating at a loss for the past three years – which will come as a surprise to many.

The loss of R286 522 for the 2025 CUBS tournament is a large contributing factor towards their operating financial loss of R227 755, which begs the question…is it really worthwhile to host this spectacle?

Imagine, with a turnover of over three million, the Rygate LFA still shows a huge operating loss?

Another concern is if the Cubs, which is backed and sponsored by the Mookrey group, along with the various other services provided by the City of Cape Town, is bleeding, what does this mean for the fate of the new u.21 tournament?

However, perhaps the financial losses of the Cubs Festival are something the organising committee is willing to carry and maybe they are comfortable with it, as long as it ensures that the youngsters are safe and having fun playing football during the September school holidays.

Look, it’s no secret that this event contributes to a safer society, as stats have highlighted the positive impact during this particular time.

The amount reflected on the income statement shows a loss of R74 770, however, in the previous financial year, it reflected a surplus of R152 985, which must be added to this year’s loss.

It was also observed that they have a paid financial administrator, who, besides doing the books, sees to the oversite, prepares the accounts, and also gives the assurance overview.

The most surprising fact is that the LFA, with a turnover of R3 224 766, does not have its financials audited, given that they need to provide the National Lotto Fund with an audited report. The AGM meeting notice speaks of an audited financial statement though.

An amount of R628 631 is reflected as amounts still to be expended on the lotto allocation, yet the total amount in the bank of the two bank accounts only amounts to R617 863. This indicates that the lotto funds were used to fund operating expenses.