It’s my turn now...!

Other than everything that undermines their masculinity, what will men go to war over? Football. Men are generally the face of it; it is loved so beloved that if a man doesn’t take to it, his manhood is questioned in a scornful deep baritone: “What guy doesn’t like sports?” Arguments over who is better between Ronaldo and Messi, are likely to start riots or end friendships.

However, rarely do you hear “Did you see Carli Lloyd’s goal from the halfway line against Japan?” Neither do officials in South Africa make headline statements that rock the boat about women’s football.

Women’s football should be taken seriously. Banyana Banyana (South Africa’s women’s team) is ranked 48th by Fifa, 32 places higher than Bafana Bafana at 80.

Yet, women do not have a national league. Women’s football has been around since 1962 and 55 years later, there haven’t been strides in making the game more accessible.

According to the Mail and Guardian, the “Sanlam National Women’s Football League was set up in the late 1990s with the goal of increasing the number of women in soccer administration and a second season was played in 2002. As of 2014, South Africa does not have a national women’s football league.

The league is believed to have been discontinued as no more seasons have been played since the early 2000s.”

The need for a national league has been noted. Former Minister of Sports and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, called for its formation after Banyana Banyana returned from the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. So, if the sports minister can’t implement a national league, who can?

Duke University found “a generally strong correlation between the performances of the women’s national team and the popularity of the professional leagues.

As women’s soccer continues to grow, other national teams are continuing to develop, and their professional leagues.” This opportunity has not been afforded to South African women footballers, and as a result, they are forced to ply their trade at University level or enrol in the Sasol League. The effects of this can be seen with the majority of the Banyana Banyana team playing for Tshwane University of Technology. These women are no match for Germany, USA, Japan or England, not because they lack the talent, but because they do not have the experience needed to be competitive at the International level.

It’s important to note women’s leagues in the four countries mentioned above have been created in the last 28 years, which is a short time in football, with help from respective national football associations.