Future champions ‘mines Alex football gold’
ALEXANDRA - Future Champions Tournament mines the diamonds of women's football in Soweto and Alexandra.
Stand aside Refiloe Jane, for another star is on the rise in the Gauteng Future Champions Tournament.
Vuyo Xabanisa is a nimble-footed Bluebirds Ladies U17 midfield maestro who is itching to make it to the ranks of the national women’s team as a stepping stone to much bigger things in her bag of dreams.
Read: Alex girl comes off the streets to dribble her way to football Mecca
Vuyo, in Grade 9 at KwaBhekilanga Secondary School is working hard to achieve her ambitions.
Jane is a Soweto born star midfielder of Banyana Banyana and plays her club football for the Vaal University of Technology Ladies team in the Sasol Women’s League.
The two things Jane and Vuyo have in common is that these two midfield diamonds were both ‘mined’ by the Future Champions Talent Search competition. Both outshone a number of talented boys to reach the finals. Jane was discovered in the 2009 competition while Vuyo emerged the winner of this year’s instalment and she has just returned from a two-week trip to the world football Mecca of Madrid in Spain.
The competition seeks to unearth talented young footballers to attend coaching clinics with various clubs in Madrid.
British football scout and businessman, Ray Whelan is a partner of the tournament with the Gauteng Provincial Government through his sports company, Global Sports International.
Whelan focuses on women’s football and prides himself and his partners for having taken Jane from playing street soccer to being the vice-captain of Banyana Banyana. He also takes pride in his latest diamond, Vuyo, and another two stars on the rise Thembelihle Fikile and Thabang Rallele who accompanied Vuyo on the trip to Madrid.
Read: Banyana star lauds women’ s football development
Whelan said the tournament had in its eight years of existence ploughed millions of rands into the various sectors of the Gauteng economy, such as tourism, transport, hospitality and others.
“We look forward to a much bigger investment in the province next year to coincide with the late former President Nelson Mandela’s centenary,” he said. “I will do my utmost to sell Gauteng to the world, and when Gauteng sells, everybody benefits.”
