If you’ve watched any Varsity Sports match this year, you’ve probably seen them before you saw the score. Loud, dressed head-toe in university colors, and always with a camera in their face — Oratilwe Matlala, Siyamthanda “JuicyJay” Jwacu, and Dedrick West are the new faces of campus fandom in South Africa.
Together, they’re known as the Cheetos Playmakers, and they’ve turned supporting your university team from the stands into content, personality, and pure energy.varsity Sports has always had passionate supporters, but these three brought something different. Instead of just cheering, they started creating.
Siyamthanda Jwacu, who goes by “JuicyJay,” came in with infectious hype and a knack for catching the moment. Whether it’s a last-minute try or a buzzer-beater, JuicyJay is the one screaming, dancing, and pulling the crowd with him.
Oratilwe Matlala brings the wit. Quick comebacks, clever chants, and the kind of commentary that makes even people who don’t follow the sport stop scrolling.
Dedrick West is the heart. He knows the players, the rivalries, the history. When he talks about his team, you feel it.
Photographer Aart Verrips captured the trio for Cheetos’ “Playmakers” campaign this year, and the images went viral across campus WhatsApp groups and TikTok within hours. Not because of the brand, but because finally, someone was putting superfans front and center.
For years, sports coverage in South Africa focused on players, coaches, and analysts. The fans were background noise. The Playmakers flipped that.
They show what match day actually feels like. The nerves before kickoff. The heartbreak of a loss. The chaos of a win. The inside jokes that only people who sit in the same bleachers every week would understand.
That approach has worked. Their clips regularly rack up thousands of views. Other universities started copying the formula — finding their own loudest, funniest, most dedicated supporters and giving them a mic.
West can break down a rugby lineout like an analyst, then 30 seconds later lead a chant that has the whole stand jumping. Matlala knows every player’s nickname and backstory. Jwacu remembers games from three seasons ago and will call you out if you don’t.
They also use their platform to bring people in. First-years who were too shy to go to a game alone now go because they’ve seen the Playmakers’ videos. Students from smaller universities say seeing fans celebrated like this made them proud to support their own teams louder.
Cheetos tapped into that energy for their Playmakers campaign, but the movement was already happening. The brand just gave it a name and a camera.
Varsity Sports has grown massively over the last decade, but it’s still fighting to feel as big as professional leagues. Content like this helps.
When a 19-year-old sees JuicyJay losing his mind over a netball final on their For You page, they’re more likely to buy a ticket next weekend. When Dedrick explains why a particular rugby rivalry matters, it stops being “just a university game.”
The Playmakers also represent a shift in who gets to be the face of sport. They’re not former pros. They’re not broadcasters. They’re students who love their schools and aren’t afraid to be loud about it.
Matlala says the goal was never fame. “We just wanted our friends to see how crazy it gets here. Now the whole country is watching.”
What’s next
With the 2026 Varsity season in full swing, the trio shows no signs of slowing down. Expect more skits, more reaction videos, more collaborations with players, and probably a few more chants that will get stuck in your head.
Other brands are starting to notice too. But for now, they’re focused on the one thing that got them here: the game.
“We’re fans first,” West says. “Everything else is extra.”
And that’s exactly why people keep watching. In a sports world full of polished interviews and press statements, the Cheetos Playmakers remind us what sport is supposed to feel like — messy, emotional, communal, and fun.
They didn’t invent Varsity Sports fandom. They just turned up the volume. And right now, the whole country is listening.
