Players from north omitted from Mares squad
Chakalisa Dube | Saturday September 25, 2021 06:00
The Mares coach recently released a list of players for next month’s COSAFA Cup to be played in South Africa. The squad is entirely made up of players from the southern part of the country.
Traditionally, the national team has always been a southern affair. “I am unable to go around the country looking for players to be part of the national team owing to lack of resources. It is my biggest wish to have some of the national team players from other parts of the country. What makes it even more difficult for me to go around the country and search for talent is that I work on a voluntary basis,” said Nkutlwisang. Nkutlwisang noted that at times she gives invitations to regional football leaders in other parts of the country to send players for assessment during national team camps but at times they send theplayers late or do not send them at all. “Some of the players who came for assessment were not ready for the national team.
We recently had one player from Boteti who came for assessment, but I felt that although she was relatively good, she was not ready for the national team,” said Nkutlwisang.
She added that she hopes more regional associations outside the southern part of the country will invite her more often and provide her with support logistics so that she gets a closer look at some players, with a view of helping them earn places in the national team set-up. Women's football has been growing at an impressive rate in Francistown and the Boteti regions over the years. For instance, in Francistown the league started with one team in 2012 but now boasts 12, with five new teams queueing up to join the competition this season.
The women’s league in Boteti is also considered among the most stable and competitive in the country and has a solid sponsorship from Debswana.
The noticeable improvement that the two leagues have earned over the last 12 months has also led to suggestions that more players in the two leagues deserve a place in the national team. Boteti, regional league chairperson, Philemon Bunu, when officiating at an event to honour Debswana for sponsoring the women’s league in the region, emphasised the need for women campaigning in the league to be part of the national team.
He said that the league has grown tremendously and is competitive.