A ray of hope for women’s football
The long-awaited national league, comprising 14 teams including last season’s nine provincial Sasol Women’s League champions, is expected to take women’s football in South Africa up a step.
There is a ray of hope for the growth of women’s football in South Africa.
The national women’s team, Banyana Banyana, has qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time, and carries the hopes of the nation with it to France in June and July of this year.
Locally, the SAFA National Women’s League kicks off in August.
The long-awaited national league, comprising 14 teams including last season’s nine provincial Sasol Women’s League champions, is expected to take women’s football in South Africa up a step.
Sparks are sure to fly as local teams battle for promotion to this league.
A total of 144 teams – 16 teams from each province – will compete in the Sasol Women’s League, which has afforded many female players a chance to compete in regular competitive football over the past decade.
One of these teams is Newcastle Ladies FC of oSizweni.
Formed in 2008, Ladies is currently the only women’s football team representing both Newcastle and the Amajuba District in the provincial stream.
The team has also proved to be one of the most formidable teams in the league.
Having earned promotion from the regional to the KwaZulu-Natal division in 2011, the 2018 season saw Ladies finishing fifth on the log and qualifying for the National Women’s League. More impressive is how the team is run on a shoestring budget.
Without complete sponsorship, the team is led by manager and acting chairperson, Weisie Mothoalo, described as a football fanatic male who believes in sport as a tool to make a positive impact on the community.
He also believes sport helps reduce social ills in the youth.
“I’m of the strong belief that sport plays an important role in communities, where there is a high rate of unemployment among the youth, which prompts some of them to resort to alcohol and drug abuse. Through sport, some of the youth who participate indulge their passion in a positive way.”
Mothoalo himself earns a living making and selling bricks in oSizweni.
He says having a team in a provincial league, where transport expenses can amount to R150 000 per season, is not child’s play.
“It’s really difficult to run a team in the Sasol League where the grant is R30 000 and R5 000 is deducted as a registration fee each season.”
Despite the circumstances and sometimes barely surviving, Mothoalo said the team was determined to qualify for the National Women’s League at any cost.
“Anyone who can lend a hand with any sort of donation or sponsorship is helping to keep us going and to realise our dream of representing Newcastle and district at a national level.”
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