La Liga is expanding its presence in South Africa with the launch of Mzansi Equal League, a six-week women’s five-a-side tournament held annually in Cape Town.
The project is an extension of La Ligue d’Egalité, a collaboration between Fundación LaLiga and Petrichor, which will begin in Cameroon in 2022 and later expand to Kenya, partnering with development organizations to improve underserved communities. I’m holding a tournament in a community that doesn’t have one.
Around 100 girls from five clubs are taking part in the Mzansi Equality League at U13 and U16 level. Therefore, this tournament is quite small compared to Cameroon (approximately 600 female players) and Kenya (approximately 400 female players). In Cameroon, tournaments are held for four months. This is about three times as long as the South African version.
“We’re starting small this time. It’s a pilot project, so we’re working with five local clubs in the Cape Town area, all of which are sports development organizations,” Petrichor president Paul Dreisbach told ESPN.
“They use sports as a way to reach underserved and low-income communities. They use sports as a tool to teach a variety of skills, including leadership, safety, and education, along with soccer. It has been.”
While the goal of the Mzansi Equality League is not to discover talent, but rather to build community through sport, grassroots development will be a boost for the local league and women’s football in general. la liga/supply
Tresor Penk, managing director of La Liga Africa, said the Mzansi Equality League was not set up to develop girls into elite players, but to promote football as a community-building tool. admitted that it had been done.
However, Penke said La Liga had made a separate effort to identify top talent in South Africa to strengthen its academy. “We have been very active in South Africa. We have held camps in the past. We also have a program that took two young girls to Spain.” – They won scholarships to play in La Liga -Stayed at the academy for one year. It was based on (their) performance. ”
Penke added that young players also attend the academy from other African countries such as Nigeria and Tanzania. La Liga opened its first academy in Dubai in 2017 and has since opened several academies around the world.
Penk continued. “As we always say, it’s important to us to get this message across. We don’t call this a performance league…We have the ability to compete in national competitions, There have been success stories of young girls achieving great results, but the goal is not just to attract high performers.
One of the five clubs invited to take part in the inaugural Mzansi Equality League is Oasis Reach For, a non-profit organization that previously sent a men’s team to the Homeless World Cup and finished fifth out of 74 countries. -It was from Your Dreams.
La Liga Africa Managing Director Tresor Penk opens the Mzansi Equality League in Cape Town. la liga/supply
Women’s head coach Michelle Davids has personally grown under the care of Oasis. Based in parts of Cape Town that have historically been affected by apartheid, her team rarely has the opportunity to venture into the more affluent suburbs.
“Oasis is a second home to me. I was actually in the Oasis school program when I was 10 or 11 years old,” David told ESPN.
“Oasis used to come into schools and do a life skills program…one of the coaches saw me playing ball and it started from there. I’m only part of the program (just) anymore. I wasn’t part of the football club. ”
At the time, she was playing on the men’s team, but now she is leading the women’s team, which the organization was struggling to establish. Now she has the opportunity to mentor others just like her.
Women’s grassroots football in Africa lacks competition at the youth level, but South Africa is faring better than most countries.
In November 2023, the South African Football Association (SAFA) announced the launch of an Under-15 Women’s League in four of the country’s nine provinces, initially with 400 players and 38 female coaches.
Coach Michalan Davids, who grew up playing soccer with boys, enjoys the opportunity to mentor young girls in the Oasis community with the Oasis Reach for Your Dreams team (yellow). I’m here. la liga/supply
Last year, Banyana forward Thembi Kgatlana, who played for Spain’s Eibar and Atletico Madrid and currently plays for Mexico’s Tigres UANL, said in an interview with ESPN that Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) winners South Africa He warned us that we would be defeated. What if Morocco had not established women’s grassroots football?
“There are two things that stand out or challenge me. The first is that Morocco made it to the final. They hadn’t been to WAFCON for a long time, but as soon as they joined, they made it to the final. ,” Katlana said.
“The second thing is that after they played in the Champions League for the first time, they were eliminated. The following year they went on to win. This has been in store for them at club level and at international level. It shows that everything went well.” Give them the rewards they need.
“What I am saying is that if no country considers that and does not take action to introduce these structures, then whether we like it or not, Morocco will become a great power. They will, because they are moving in the right direction. They are empowering the women’s game in their country.”
The fledgling Mzansi Equality League will not solve the problem overnight, but it does signal a gradual shift towards recognizing the growing power of women’s football in Africa.
