No longer just a man’s sport

Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk’s JVW Girls Football Development programme kicked off at the Randburg Football Club this weekend, 27 January.

The JVW and the Randburg Football Club partnered to give more girls an opportunity to take their passion for the sport to the next level. It provides a platform for aspiring female footballers to better themselves individually, receive tailored top-level training and guidance from those with experience.

The programme boasts coaches such as Banyana Banyana players Mpumi Nyandeni, Amanda Dlamini and Mamello Makhabane, as well as Banyana Banyana manager Lauren Duncan.

Van Wyk has a wealth of experience, with 125 caps for the national football team, to become the most capped South African footballer of any gender. She just ended her contract with American-based football club Houston Dash in the National Women’s Soccer League.

“Women’s football is growing in our country and there are so many talented girls who fall through the cracks. We need quality training, and players to be learning from a young age to be disciplined and carry themselves in a professional manner.

That is why I started a programme, so these girls can have the opportunity to showcase their talent and what they are made of, as well as try to get them to a top level.

Here at Randburg, we have already seen some players who are showing potential and could play for the national team, while others are playing because of the love of the game. We are here to give back to these girls and give them a platform to shine,” said Van Wyk.

Randburg’s chairperson Gordon Naidoo was impressed with the programme and said there is a big cry for women’s football to improve and for players to play at a higher level.

“We are fortunate that, because Randburg is a big catchment area, we had a lot of girls come and play football at our club.
“A few years ago, we could only accommodate them in the boys’ teams and as they got older, they would leave the sport.

The LFA Rand Central created a women’s league in our region which saw a vast improvement and teams started to develop.

Through these programmes, we’ve had a few players make it to the U17 and U20 national teams. Randburg has one of the best facilities in the country and we want to offer the same level of quality to our women’s teams.”

For the next month, the programme will be looking for quality players to nurture, but those who are not selected will still have an opportunity to impress.

With JVW and Randburg working together, female players will no longer miss out.

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