The Discovery Girls Football Festival took place this weekend at Crawford Preparatory School on Saturday, 15th June 2019.
The Football Festival, which is in its third year, was created by the Johannesburg Primary School Football Association (JPSFA) and sees 120 girls from eight area teams, including an invitational team from Alexandra, compete for selection as one of the Top 15 players.
Forwardzone CEO, Ashley Kotzin, is proud to be involved in the activation of the Girls Football Festival and to see its growth from the first to the third year, “The addition of a company like Discovery as headline sponsor of this festival cannot be underestimated. Discovery continues to illustrate their dedication in the promotion of schools’ football in Gauteng through the Discovery Primary Schools Tournament and Discovery High Schools Tournament, and now with the inclusion of The Discovery Girls Football Festival. Through this Festival they are growing the platform for girls’ football and leading the way in girls’ football development”.
The introduction of Discovery as the headline sponsor saw the Girls Football Festival elevated to new heights with U17 SA Women’s National Team Coach & former Banyana Banyana Captain Simphiwe Dludlu joining the scouting team and SuperSport Presenter Julia Stuart performing the duty of MC.
The inclusion of prominent women in football was an essential added element to this year’s Festival giving the girls participating a chance to interact with inspirational role models they can relate to.
Speaking at the closing ceremony just before the announcement of the selected players, Dludlu encouraged the players to continue to follow their passion in football by saying there’s no such thing as a “no”, but only a “yes” & “not yet”.
The selected players will represent Gauteng at the Girls Interprovincial Football Tournament taking place in Hammanskraal at Camp Discovery in September.
Confirmation of the Top 15 players selected at this year’s tournament:
Goalkeeper
Kayla Cartmell
Defenders
Michel Matsinhe
Kyra Lindsay
Lebogang Lebudi
Claudia Borland
Tatum Labuschagne
Midfielders
Trinity Magamura
Bokamoso Matima
Rachel Sassine
Erin Barrett
Frezia Lombombe
Strikers
Simphiwe Magazi
Cameron Hall
Tatiana Correira
Tefflo Tlotlo