SAB League national championships kick off
JOBURG - The SAB League national championships will kick off at the University of Limpopo from 9 to 16 July.
The South African Football Association has launched the 2016 edition of the South African Breweries (SAB) U21 National Championships which will take place at the University of Limpopo in Polokwane from 9 to 16 July.
The national championships are a culmination of the provincial leagues of the SAB League. Winners of the league at provincial level then meet to compete at national level to choose the national champion. The 10th team in the competition comes from the winners of the varsity games.
Considered the largest and most successful grassroots football development league in the country, the SAB League is said to have established itself as the most trusted football talent feeder for professional clubs after producing household names such as Andile Jali, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Themba Zwane.
The launch of the tournament, held at SAB World of Beer, was attended, among others, by Zwane who is now a Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder and Thabo Senong, the national U23 head coach.
All nine provinces plus a university select side, University Sport South Africa (USSA) will be represented by the cream of the crop selected from the 30 000 nationwide players that participate in the SAB League.
In line with the SAB League’s commitment to football development, 20 match officials who will officiate during the tournament will undergo a week of training. This will be conducted by highly-qualified technical and physical instructors including Fifa referee, Sylvester ‘Profesori’ Ndaba.
Also present at the launch was Mojalefa Selumetse, a proud beneficiary of SAB’s latest innovation to the league that sees selected players being afforded opportunities to pursue academic studies. Selumetse, who is completing his final year in B Ed degree in languages, was one of the players that assisted the Free State side in winning two consecutive SAB U21 National Championships.
“The SAB League has changed my life in a manner that words cannot explain. My talent was discovered through this league and I am now a few months away from being a university graduate. I am looking forward to graduating and becoming an educated professional footballer,” Selumetse said.
