With the 2018 Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup and national qualifiers for the Cosfa Cup coming up, Safa Eastern Cape will be hosting two sets of trials to spot talent for the national teams.
The trials, which take place next Saturday at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, will be for women players in the age groups 14 to 17 and 18 to 23.
The event will be conducted by national coaches from U17 and senior women’s teams, assisted by the provincial technical officer, coach Douleen Whitebooi.
According to Whitebooi, the aim of the trials is to try to sort out talent for the U17 national squad that will be going to the 2018 Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup that will take place later in the year as well as for the high performance centre in Pretoria.
She said they were expecting about 100 girls to attend.
“It’s not a guarantee that those who do well in the trials will make the national team.
“They still have to go to the national team set-up before the final selection is made,” Whitebooi said.
“Everyone who has the potential is welcome to come, but we would like them to be in contact with their regions so that we can have the exact number of people attending.
“If they are not part of a club set-up they must try to get in contact with their regions’ Safa officials.
“We have eight regions, so we are expecting about 100 girls to turn up for the event.”
To qualify to be part of the trials, players will need ID documents or passports and will have to take along their own kit.
“The day will be divided into three sections. From 9am to noon there will be the U17 trials. Between 1pm and 2pm there will be a coaches’ briefing and workshop,” Whitebooi said.
“After 2pm we will have U18 to 23 trials to look at those who will most probably strive to get into the Banyana Banyana set-up as well,” Whitebooi said.
“We are also preparing the national teams for the national qualifiers for the Cosfa Cup.
“There are many events happening this year on the national calendar, so good-quality players are needed just to beef up the teams.
“However, the trials are also for the Eastern Cape region to get an idea of what we have in the region and be able to prepare our girls better when they go into the national set-up.”