The South African Football Association (Safa) Gauteng launched the Gauteng Development League, which will see academies battling against each other.
The Gauteng Development League (GDL) has been running since 2011 with the realised need to create a strength-vs-strength competition, this in order to improve the level of youth football development in the province.
Initially, the league targeted Premier Soccer League (PSL) academies and the likes of Transnet School of Excellence and Rosina Sedibane. Last year, the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) of Gauteng decided to widen the net by inviting the non-PSL teams in order expand this magnificent programme.
“We had nine teams when we started, but we have now grown to more than 20 teams which we have divided according to strength. We are doing this to better develop our players. We didn’t want a situation where a team won 15-0 or so and think they are strong, we wanted them to compete equally. This project is bearing fruit because a majority of players in junior national teams come from this initiative,” said Willie Mooka, Safa Gauteng co-chairperson.
“At the end of the day we want all five regions of this province to have academies so that when we select a provincial side, it is fully representative. If we work together we can do it. We have come a long way and we are not where we want to be as yet, but we are clearly on the right track.”
Some of the academies that will take part in the league are Supersport United, Mamelodi Sundowns, Bidvest Wits, Orlando Pirates, School of Excellence, Platinum Stars, Black Aces and Highlands Parks.
All the sides will compete in four divisions: u-13, u-15, u-17 and u-19.
“At Safa we are very passionate about development, and this project speaks to us and is in line with our Vision 2022. We want this league to be the blueprint for other provinces so we can have stronger national teams. This league will also help with proper scouting because this is where you will see the best talent on display so it is very important to us as an association,” said Safa technical director, Neil Tovey.
The teams will have on their benches some former players like Joel Masilela, Isaac Shai, Kwanele Kopo, Innocent Chikoya, Dillion Sheppard, Glen Salmon, MacBeth Sibaya, Edelbert Dinha and Augusto Palacios.
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