Pretoria east woman and president of football club aims high
The president of the Club Sport Maritimo says her team is capable of advancing to higher Safa divisions.
President of the Club Sport Maritimo Ana Maria Furriel wants her senior soccer team, currently competing in the South African Football Association (Safa) Tshwane Regional League, to end up participating in the Premier division in the future.
“Passion for soccer and hard-working will make it possible for us to advance to the highest league in the country,” an adamant Furriel told Rekord.
Furriel is a resident of the eastern parts of Pretoria.
The senior team completed the regional league matches for the 2021/2022 soccer season at position seven of the log standings with 41 points.
Although the outcome of the season prevents the senior team to participate in the playoffs by identifying two teams to advance to the ABC Motsepe League, she is adamant that her senior team will end up competing in the highest football league in the country in the future.
Furriel has all systems in place to ensure that Maritimo generate quality players from junior levels to help the senior team to remain competitive.
Even though Furriel spends most of her time in Angola, where she works as a financial manager, she is deeply involved in the development of local football in Pretoria.
She has has five other teams competing in various Safa leagues. These teams, all using the Club Sport Maritimo name, consist of two u.13, two u.17, and the ladies team competing in the Promotional League.
The teams consist of players from Mamelodi and Hammanskraal.
“I have a South African based competitive management team that controls all Maritimo teams competing in the Safa leagues and it reports directly to me.”
Furriel was born and bred at Boksburg in Gauteng. Inspired by her father and two brothers, who were all soccer players, her love for football started when she was 13 years old in the early 80s – the same time they had relocated to Pretoria.
“The love for football originated from home. As the Portuguese family, we have a passion for football – it is a family thing.”
She said her father and brothers were playing for the Portuguese club called Association of Portuguese Community in Pretoria and Club Maritimo which were based in the west of Pretoria.
For the love of football, her father Manuel Furriel together with other Portuguese nationals formed Maritimo in 1992, which began as a Portuguese social club involving soccer and marathon. However, things changed when Anna Maria took over in 2015 as the team focused only on football.
In 2018 she purchased the Regional League status, which allowed her team to participate in a more competitive league.
“I bought the status after realising that more boys wanted to play a more competitive soccer.”
She said she wanted her team to play well in the regional league and advance to the ABC Motsepe League.
“Hopefully we can win league titles and be promoted if we stay focused and have the passion.”
She described football as one of the foundations of a healthy life.
“We want youth to play sports and stay healthy. Playing football keeps the youth away from, among others, alcohol and drug abuse.”
She said soccer was important for both the ladies and gentlemen because it helps them “build confidence in themselves” and teaches the youth to work as a team.
ALSO READ: Maritimo struggle to move into the top eight
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