The
South African Football Association (SAFA), in conjunction with the 2010 FIFA
World Cup Legacy Trust, has launched the most significant development programme
in the history of South African football – the SAFA Under 13 and Under 15 Boys
and Girls League.
The
move marks the beginning of the implementation of a critical component of the
SAFA Technical Master Plan - the building of a rich and robust talent
identification and development pipeline.
This
U-13 and U-15 League programme was made possible through the funding provided
by the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust.
The
leagues will kick off in all of the Association’s 311 Local Football
Associations (LFA) in May this year. Several coordinators, who are currently
being trained, will be responsible for the roll out of the programme in their
respective LFAs.
Coaches
and talent scouts will select LFA teams which will participate in regional
competitions followed by Provincial competitions in September 2013.
Provincial
U-13 and U-15 teams will participate in National Competitions in December 2013.
In the process, 1000 boys and 1000 girls who show potential will be identified
and put through high performance tests conducted by our high performance
universities.
The
President of SAFA, Kirsten Nematandani said the launch of this programme was
historic in the long term successes of our national teams.
“This
is the first phase in the implementation of our Technical Master Plan which is
intended to enable us to reach our goal in the next decade of being consistently
in the Top 3 in Africa and Top 20 in the World,” said Nematandani.
“A
decade is both a long time and a very short time as well. The FIFA World Cup
tournament to be held in Qatar in 2022 is just under 10 years away, and if our
plan is to find success, it must be seen there if not before.”
Dr
Danny Jordaan, the Chairperson of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, stated
that this was the project in which the Trust invested the most funds during the
first round of allocations.
“The
Board of Trustees was excited to note that SAFA prioritised the U-13 and U-15
leagues for girls and boys as a key element of the Technical Master Plan that
was unveiled a few weeks ago. The Board was unanimous in their view that this
focus will provide a solid foundation for meaningful development and
transformation of the game, thus the lion share of the distribution of funds in
this first allocation was directed to this initiative,” said Dr Jordaan.
“The
Board of Trustees wanted to see a programme that will make an impact on the
development of football and that will see the national teams improve their
standing on the continent and in the world in the next 10 years. This is
therefore the start of a tough, but exciting journey for South African football
but the Trust will be there to support SAFA every step of the way.”
-
SAFA
