Boost for SA soccer

The leagues will be for both boys and girls, and will start in May of 2013.

The trust received R450 million from Fifa following the 2010 World Cup and R17 million has been distributed for this initiative, for the first year, which ends in March of 2014.
The programme will run in all 52 of the Safa regions and Safa’s president, Kirsten Nematandani, said that each Safa region will have 20 players selected for the national championships where the top players will be selected for nine development schools.

Nematandani said that the best players will then be selected for various national teams.
“We want to make sure that we develop as many players as we can. We will make sure that the best players from each Safa region are selected and their talent groomed.

“This will help us build the talent pipe-line which will not be broken as we have to keep the players growing from stage to stage until the senior national team.
“We want all the clubs to have all the age groups in their teams so that they also help in player development.
“So the launch of these junior leagues will help a lot,” Nematandani concluded. — Laduma.