DTCB Women’s League changes format
KABELO BORANABI | Saturday June 10, 2023 06:00
The second edition of the finals will be played through a four-team tournament, which is a reduction from last season’s eight. In its inaugural edition, the women's football was only played in eight regions. The champions from the eight regions played in the playoff finals held in Gaborone in a group and knock-out format to determine the national champions. This season has, however, seen an increase of teams from 47 to 132 while the regional leagues increased from six to 11 from the previous season. Due to the development, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) has resolved regional champions' play in the BFA Block playoffs to book a place in the final four.
However, the playoffs will be played in only three blocks, Eastern, Northern, and Southern while the Western had no activity for this season. Three teams from the active blocks will qualify to join reigning champions, Double Action in the national playoffs. Speaking at this season’s launch on Thursday, the DTCB corporate affairs manager, MacDonald Motsele said the entity has seen the need to promote gender equality in sports and also for inclusivity of girls in rural areas. Motsele said as the premier sponsor, the DTCB has been inspired by the steady rise of the women’s game and believes local football can compete on the international stage and fully support the BFA’s dream of the Mares reaching the World Cup finals by 2035. “If you look at the women's national team that played in WAFCON last year, the majority of the players are from this project. So we are proud to have played a meaningful role and we will be happier if we get the women's football team to the World Cup finals in 2035, then we will say we played our part,” Motsele said.
BFA CEO Mfolo Mfolo said the DTCB sponsorship would only strengthen the local game while also boosting the national team. He said with a strong local league, the Mares would be tougher opponents on the international stage while players could also benefit in securing professional contracts abroad. “To have partners like the DTCB ploughing in the development and growth of women's football, it is very important for us. Success is not overnight, there should be a track of how it came about. So the grassroots centres that the DTCB is putting in place are important for us to qualify for the World Cup in 2035. It is a deliberate intention because we know what we are doing at the elementary level. If you have a structure, it will determine how well you succeed so we are thankful for what the DTCB is doing for women's football,” Mfolo said.
The road to the last four will begin this weekend with the Northern Block playoffs at Orapa Junior Secondary School grounds. Heritage Sports Academy (Francistown), Orapa All Stars (Boteti), Nhabe’s Western Dynamites and Panda United Sorghum Girls of Chobe will be in action. The road to the semi-finals will be on the weekend of June 17-18 in Selebi-Phikwe for the Eastern Block playoffs. Granada Wanderers (Phikwe), Mafia Visions (Central South) and Tsabotlhe FC (Central North) will do battle at the Sam Sono Stadium. It promises to be a tighter affair in the battle for the semi-final to be held in the Lekidi Football Centre on the weekend of June 24-25. BDF XI (Kweneng), Royal Fighters (Kgatleng), Gaborone United (Gaborone) and the winner from the SORFA region are to entertain.
The national playoffs winner's prize is P250,000, the runners up will take home P150,000, the bronze medallist pockets P100,000, while the other semi-finalist gets P50,000. The winner of the national playoffs will book a ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League regional qualifiers tournament. In 2022, BFA and DTCB penned a three-year deal worth P4.5 million and it is in its second season.