Girls make debut in BFA grassroots tourney
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday April 28, 2017 14:42
The BFA development league inter-block finals will offer a glimpse of hope to local women’s football. The women have been playing second fiddle to their male counterparts as millions of pula are being poured to the development of men’s football while women have been inactive since December last year.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, BFA women football technical officer, Barobi Ngwako said all the regions will be represented in the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 age categories except for the Kgalagadi region. Ngwako further said their main objective is to develop female players, coaches, referees and administrators, the same as it is done for men’s football.
“The main objective is to align with BFA development structures as it is in the men’s football. We want to advocate the girl child and ensure female teams’ participation whenever there is an event. All the blocks will be represented except for the Kgalagadi region,” she said.
Ngwako further said they have also been developing female coaches across as they target 50/50 participation. “Girls (teams) should be coached by women. We want an environment where women coaches are also empowered. Our aim is to ensure a 50/50 participation,” she said. Over 100 girls are expected to play in the tournament.
For his part, BFA development technical director, Odirile ‘China’ Matlhaku said they intend to form shadow junior national teams from the players who will be selected from the tournament. “From the teams available, we will select the best players who will form the junior national teams. The players who are not selected will be given another chance,” he said. With age-cheating an escalating problem in Africa, Matlhaku said the BFA will use the traditional way of determining the players’ ages.
“We have decided to use the birth certificates when we determine the ages. As of now we cannot use the MRI tests due to lack of resources. I think it will not be smart to cheat as the aim of the programme is to develop future senior national team players,” he said.
The tournament will be played on a round-robin basis where all the teams will play three games. The games will start this morning after an opening ceremony at Diphetogo grounds before matches are played at Duma Chiefs grounds, Kwena grounds and the MmaMasire grounds.
“We want to take the games to the people. (The intention is) to show the parents, aspiring players and the public the progress we have been making and the talent we have here,” Matlhaku said.