Promotion beckons for the Banakekeleni Orphanage Football Club which could soon find itself playing in the South African Football Association (Safa) Johannesburg Promotional League.
The team tops the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association Promotional League with only three game remaining before the end of the season. With 43 points from 16 games in a league of 20 teams, Banakekeleni could now be set on a solid road to promotion.
The team is mainly, but not entirely, composed of players from the orphanage and would be proof that anyone can achieve his or her dreams, regardless of their social background. According to the secretary general of Alex football, Mafika Morajane, the Alex senior league is a promotion-only league and no team gets relegated.
The bottom of the league team gets to have another chance at the prize every year when the league resumes. Only one team is promoted to the next league level, including those run by the mother body, the South African Football Association.
When Banakekeleni finally wins promotion, the team will ply its trade in a league that is run by Safa. If it performs well in that league too and wins promotion, it will climb up the ladder to the Safa South African Breweries League, popularly known as the SAB League.
The promotion continues from there on, to the newly-formed ABC Motsepe League.
From the Motsepe League, promotion then takes the team to the National First Division League, which is a precursor to the ultimate and prestigious Premier Soccer League. The age for players in the Alex senior league is U17.