Janine van Wyk (JVW) Football Club recently announced the signing of new players.
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Alochia Thobokela is their first new signing ahead of the 2018 season, and joins the Bedfordview-based women’s club from 2017 Gauteng Sasol League provincial winners, Mamelodi Sundowns. Thobokela, also known as ‘Alo’, brings with her a wealth of experience gained over the years, including spells with Banyana Banyana in 2010 and 2014.
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She also brings her massive input to the Sundowns Ladies team, which has won the national championship twice and the provincial stream three times since the formation of the Sasol League in 2009. Upon her signing, Thobokela spoke fondly of the JVW programme and of her admiration for its founder, Janine van Wyk, with whom she had the pleasure of playing while in camp with the senior women’s national team.
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“My main focus for 2018 is to help my team win the league,” stated Thobokela when asked about her move to JVW.
“I am also excited to share my experiences with my new teammates and help the younger players better their game too. I feel very honoured to be part of the JVW family and am looking forward to meeting up with the team at our first pre-season practice. I have realised that JVW focuses more on grooming and developing players, and it is such a great team with a lot of young players who are keen to learn and improve their game.”
Long-serving Springs Home Sweepers midfielder, Nomathemba Ntsibande, and JVW Vets striker Natalia Valentine, have both signed with JVW FC for the 2018 Sasol League Season.
Ntsibande has spent most of her playing career with KwaThema-based Springs Home Sweepers. The former Banyana Banyana defensive midfielder scored six goals in her 36 appearances for South Africa. The 32-year-old played a major role in Springs Home Sweepers’ achievements over the years while under the guidance of Joseph Mkhonza, who also coached the senior women’s national team and qualified with them for their Olympic debut at the London 2012 Games.
“I am honoured and so excited to join JVW,” said Ntsibande. “It was of course a very hard decision having to leave Home Sweepers, since I’ve spent many years with the club, but I am so grateful to the club and in particular Mr Mkhonza for nurturing and moulding me into the player I am today. He was not only my coach, but my mentor and father figure too.”
Valentine was transferred from the Vets team after an impressive Local Football Association (LFA) season, winning the 2017 Easterns LFA League and finishing as the top goal-scorer with 29 goals in 15 matches. She formerly played for Luso Africa in the 2009 Sasol League alongside Janine van Wyk, before being signed to Clayton State University in Georgia, USA. After graduating she returned to South Africa, where she decided to take a break from football to build a career for herself outside of the sport.
Recently deciding to progress to the first team and make a name for herself in the football fraternity, Valentine has agreed to a one-year contract with the Bedfordview-based Club.
“After many years of playing district-level football, I am excited to grow and develop my football with a club I’m proud to be associated with”, she said.
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