Alex teams now outgrow amenities

The ever-growing number of teams in the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association League (Alex League) has now reached a crisis point where they have since outgrown the available stadiums.

This was disclosed by the secretary-general of the association, Mafika Morajane during an exclusive interview with Alex News.

Five new clubs have joined the league for this year’s season, bringing the number of clubs to 43, from 38 in the previous season.

As most of the clubs in the league have five divisional teams per club – U13, U15, U17, U19 and seniors – this has swelled team numbers to more than 200 and is causing a huge strain on the available amenities and a serious headache for football administrators.

Newcomers to the league include River Park United from the River Park section of Alex, PSG, Roosevelt Young Stars and HP Stars, all from Ext 7 in the Far East Bank area, and another unnamed team from the Marlboro area.

Morajane bemoaned the lack of amenities in Far East Bank which includes extensions 7, 8, 9 and 10. He said if there were stadia there, the association would consider opening a stream of the league to cater for clubs in that area alone.

“I am told there are numerous club-less children in that area in need of teams, and our constitution allows for the establishment of stream leagues in areas that have a high volume of teams and children to complement each other,” Morajane said.

He added that the league was already facing huge headaches in terms of organising fixture lists. “We have children who go for a week or two without kicking the ball because of the fixture congestion, and we end up skipping a week or so in order to accommodate all the teams.”

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