Football feast at Gelvandale
THE Northern Areas FA (Nafa) will host the 2012 edition of the National Inter LFA tournament for the second time in its relatively short history.
The event, which is scheduled to run from tomorrow to Sunday at the Gelvandale playing fields, was started in 2008. As a result of the success of the previous four tournaments, an u-17 section has been has been added to the existing u-15 division.
In addition to Nafa, Cape District, Northern Suburbs (Cape Town), PADSA (Pietermaritzburg), North End FA (East London) and Breidbach (King Williams Town), Makana (Grahamstown) and Nodefa (Uitenhage) will be participating.
Since its inception the Nafa senior team has failed to win the title despite having reached the final on two occasions (2008 and 2010). Last year was their worst showing when they failed to progress to the knockout stages for the first time. Cape District and North End FA are the only two previous winners in this year’s tournament. Mitchells Plain are no longer part of the event.
In the junior section Nafa are expected to retain the u-15 title which they have dominated in recent years.
In the new u-17 competition Nafa and the Port Elizabeth FA will carry local hopes.
In addition to the tournament proper, Nafa has also organised a Goodwill Tournament for all local football associations in the u-9, u-11 and u-13 divisions.
The finals will be played at the Glenville FC field.