Young girls brave the cold to enjoy soccer tournament
City's Region A wants to hold quarterly soccer tournaments for young girls around the region in a bid to improve women's football.
The City’s Region A Sports and Recreation Department held a U13 girls’ soccer tournament at Rabie Ridge Stadium in a bid to promote the sport.
Despite chilly weather, the optimistic future players came in their numbers to showcase their talent on May 21 in a 6-a-side format.
The City, in conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) in District 9 (Johannesburg East District), put together 16 primary schools to compete in the maiden tournament.
After a tough and highly competitive knockout stage, it eventually went down to the wire when Rebonwe Primary School from Ivory Park and Alexandra’s Dr Knak Primary School squared up in the final.
Dr Knak emerged victorious 3–2 thanks to Christina Sebati’s second-half brace. Christina went on to win the top goalscorer award of the tournament.
Mbali Kgatla won the best goalkeeper of the tournament award while dribbling wizard Ayanda Yende of Rebonwe scooped the best player accolade.
Dr Knak coach Lawrence Tsebenthlane said the young girls worked extremely hard and showed determination from the first game of the tournament.
“They [girls] really surprised me the way they played because we did not have enough time to prepare and we had a mixture of U11s in the team just to beef up the squad. I think we need to have such tournaments more often so that we can improve women’s football in the country.”
Addressing the players and supporters at the start of the tournament, the City’s Region A sports and recreation assistant-director Mandla Mahlangu said, “The aim was to develop talented girls. We would like to thank all the schools who came and we hope these kinds of games will develop women’s football in school sports.”
District 9 sports coordinator Thomas Moswane added, “As GDE we are happy to give young girls this opportunity because we want to give the young girls interested in football the same opportunity as boys and ensure their development from an early age. Our plea to the schools and parents is to support them and give them all the necessary support they will require, because definitely there is talent.”
Related Article:
https://www.citizen.co.za/midrand-reporter/304659/sports-and-arts-association-attracts-more-people/
