Sixth Edition of Sasol League gets underway
The fifth edition of SASOL Women's League have commenced throughout South Africa.
“THIS is the shop window that SASOL has chosen for women soccer in South Africa and it is befitting that the sport will grow,” said new Banyana Banyana Head coach, Vera Pauw. “This kind of structure is nowhere to be found in Africa and South Africa can develop national players into international players.”
The fifth edition of the SASOL Women’s League was announced on Wednesday March 26 at SAFA House with the newly appointed coach of Baynana much impressed by the way the league works.
“There is lots of talent and it is amazing to see how a big company got involved in the growth of soccer among women.”
“What I now see is that Banyana must learn to play as a team, and I must create game awareness and each of the players must know what they should do in their positions,” she said when prompted what the national women’s team has lacking.
SASOL and SAFA have undertaken to plough huge resources into women’s football and in the process use the sport as a tool to empower and develop young women.
In the past years, the partnership between SASOL and SAFA has witnessed massive growth in women’s football, which culminated in Banyana Banyana qualifying for the London Olympics. The Sasol sponsorship has also enabled the development of a competitive women’s football league around the country.
The Sasol League is comprised of 16 teams participating in each of the nine provincial leagues.
One province kicked off their league programme this past week ( March 22 to 23). Three provinces will commence their league programme this coming weekend (March 29 to 30), with the remaining five kicking off their programme next weekend (April 5 to 6).
In addition to the weekly fixtures taking place around the country over the next nine months, SASOL and SAFA representatives will visit provinces to host a one-day women’s football promotional event, which includes trial sessions for players and a coaches’ workshop.
The trials are open to all players in the SASOL League. This will allow Senior National Women’s Team technical staff to identify new talent for possible selection to the SASOL Banyana Banyana squad.
Sasol League reaches the peak with the hosting of the National Championships to be held from 8 to14 December 2014 in Port Elizabeth, where the nine provincial winners compete to determine the 2014 winners.
