Girls only tourney to help grow women’s football
“We are really happy that we hosted this tournament for girls. It’s massive for the young girls in our area."
The Willowmoore Park football fields were a hive of activity during the inaugural Benoni Girls Football Club (BGFC)’s all-girls Unity Tournament on June 25.
The competition saw over 60 players from 19 girls’ teams take to the field in front of a team of talent scouts.
This tournament was a welcome relief to local girls who want to play professionally as the demand for female footballers is on the rise in South Africa.
This is after the Confederation of African Football said clubs should form ladies’ teams if they want to play in the CAF Champions League or CAF Confederations Cup.
The club has joined its local counterparts Benoni Northerns FC, which revived its women’s team earlier this year, and Old Bens Ladies, who won the ELFA Ladies Blue League.
According to coach Irfaan Khan, the BGFC was established last year and since then they have assembled talented young girls who, they hope, left a good impression on the scouts during the tournament.
“We are really happy that we hosted this tournament for girls. It’s massive for the young girls in our area. It was a day of unity and our intentions were fulfilled. A special thank you to all the parents and teams that participated in the competition,” said Khan.
Besides the talent scouts, Khan said there was also a contingent from sports broadcasting media giants, SuperSport.
Six players from the Benoni Spurs’ U9 and U12 teams attracted the attention of the scouts in the curtain-raiser matches they played before the start of the ladies’ tournament.
Spurs chairperson Mohsin Daya said the success story on the day was seeing the excitement in the faces of the Benoni Girls FC players, adding this was a win for football.
“We are happy our players have been scouted but today was all about empowering women’s football. We gave all the assistance we could to elevate our sister club and football won in the end.”
He stated the tournament showed what they can achieve for their community when they work together.
“We have grown our family, made new friends and united the community. All the boxes were ticked and we would like to thank all our sponsors, without whom none of these successes would have been possible.
“Thank you to our parents, friends and families for their support and assistance as well. This was a win for football,” said Daya.
Also Read: Banyana captain off to Glasgow City
Also Read: Easterns cricketer recognised at CSA awards
