Why SA women aren’t in the big league
They need a pro structure, but money is a problem
AT FIRST glance, all you see are players going through their paces. Kitted out in shorts, T-shirts, knee-high socks and soccer boots, their coach instructs them to do short sprints across half of the soccer pitch.
Take a closer look and you realise the footballers are female. And their coach is a woman.
This is the Janine van Wyk (JvW) Football Club’s weekly training session for the junior team. It is as physically intense as that of any amateur men’s team.
The club was launched after it became apparent there was a gap at this level for women.
“We started in 2012 with the girls’ high school league in Ekurhuleni,” says club project manager Lauren Duncan.
“With that league, we had 300 (girls playing inter-school football). We didn’t know what was going to happen to them when they left school. We had matric girls we’d scouted who were really good.”
Conscious of the need for a professional space for women footballers, Banyana Banyana captain Van Wyk and Duncan took the initiative. “We selected and scouted 18 girls from the schools league and formed a team,” said Duncan.
“We played in tournaments and then formed a professional club.”
The club facilitates a tournament that involves more than 2 000 girls. It also has about 60 players in four teams. Some of its members have represented the country.
Banyana’s early exit from the Rio Olympics reignited the conversation about the quality of women’s football in the country. And a bigger conversation, about the absence of a professional league is needed.
The Sasol League is good, Duncan says.
“If there wasn’t the Sasol League, there would be nothing. Over the years, they’ve shown that they support women’s football.
“We play in a competitive league, there’s a winner, there are champs, but it’s not professional. Our players are not paid to play at club level.”
Nana Nzima, 28, a member of the JvW first team, which participates in the Sa- sol League, has been playing semi-professional football for 14 years at national and other levels, but has a day job to make ends meet.
“I am a financial and investment adviser at a bank. While (football) is my passion, it doesn’t pay the bills. I have made it a serious hobby. I do enjoy playing soccer, I make time for it, but I need a job to help sustain my life,” she said.
Gabriella Salgado, 18, a fulltime BComm student, dreams of playing for the national team, even with the uncertainty of a career in football.
She also plays for JvW’s first team.
“I play for the under-20 national team, and I would like to work my way up to the national team. However, if I don’t get there, I will probably look for an opportunity to play overseas.”
Echoing Salgado, Duncan says although committed senior players are working to de- velop the sport from school level, the absence of a professional league means skilled women players leave for professional contracts abroad.
The SA Football Association (Safa) acknowledges that the absence of a professional league is hindering the development of women’s football.
It says one of the major hurdles in establishing a professional league is that it would cost a lot of money.
“To manage this process, Safa is in consultation with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and clubs to introduce - as one of the many license conditions for PSL clubs - the requirement that they establish a women’s team because they have the facilities to do so,” says Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi.
He says there is a clear recognition of the need to develop the sport among women by encouraging participation at school and local football association levels.
Sasol, as the long-time sponsor of the women’s senior national team and the league that bears its name, is trying to do exactly that through its continued support.
“The creation of the Sasol League was to provide a platform for women’s football to be developed from club level up,” says Sasol spokesman Alex Anderson. “By improving the standard and quality of women’s football at this level, the league would also provide a platform for national team coaches to scout for talent.”
While this is appreciated by players and clubs alike, the recognition and development of women’s football is the large chunk missing from the success puzzle.
This is possibly the piece that would complete our international picture.