Edendale Technical ready to defend their title
The CAF African Schools Football Champs, Cosafa qualifiers, take place at the Gateway School in Zimbabwe from 14-16 December, with South Africa’s Edendale Technical High School as the defending girls’ champions.
The stage has been set and the draw has been finalised for the highly anticipated competition, with Zimbabwe, the host nation, in Group A alongside Malawi, Botswana, Eswatini and Mozambique.
South Africa has been named as the seeded team for Group B, following the country’s victory in both the boys’ and girls’ competitions at the 2022 zonal event in Lilongwe, Malawi. Tough competition awaits them from Angola, Zambia, Namibia and Madagascar for places in the knockout rounds.
Donning the South African colours are Edendale Technical High School and the Ubuntu Football Academy, which takes over in the boys’ draw from Clapham High School, who did duty in 2022. A big challenge awaits both South African teams as they bid to keep the titles in the country’s possession.
What is on the line for the defending girls’ champions, Edendale Technical, is a place in the final round of the CAF African Schools Football Champs.
Under the guidance of their experienced coach, Ntombifuthi Khumalo, who holds a CAF C-Licence, Edendale is determined to be the pride of the “Rainbow Nation” once again. Popularly known as “Coach Muchichwa“, Khumalo has a couple of players who featured in 2022 returning, namely captain Asanda Ziqubu and Esihle Zuma.
She thanked coaches and local schools who have supported her and been pushing her team to do its best against the leading development talent from the southern region of Africa.
Coach Khumalo said supporters should expect to see that she has grown along with her players. “Even though we won last during the Cosafa qualifiers, I was not happy with the performance, knowing how well these girls can play. However, we have gone back to the growing board and since then we have shown hunger and determination, and that we deserve to play at this level,” she said.
Preparing for a tournament of this calibre was a challenge, Khumalo said, because of a lack of competitive games for girls at the junior level. She has worked at the development level in various schools since 2011, but she said there remains a lack of understanding in the country that young girls could have a future playing football.
“With clubs such as Mamelodi Sundowns winning their second CAF women’s title and Banyana Banyana’s success at the 2023 World Cup and at continental level, this should be a perfect time to make a greater investment in women’s football at all levels, so that we ensure the continuity and longevity of the game”, she said.
Khumalo said coaching at the development level is challenging. However, she thanked the Motsepe Foundation and its partners for their support, which has resulted in more girls than ever before playing football from a young age, with their interest in the game at a peak.
Edendale has already produced a number of players for the local South African National League, Khumalo added. She expressed her confidence in the current squad, saying that many of them are destined to play the game at a higher level because of their talent, dedication and love of the game.
“We’ve got two former school captains in Lonathemba (Mhlongo) and Snegugu (Zondi), both playing for the University of the Western Cape,” Mr Sihle Basi, Edendale Sports Chairperson wrote in an article. “There’s also Nosipho (Mahlawe) playing for Royal AM Ladies, and Mhlongo is now a regular member of the Banyana (Banyana) squad.
“We’ve also got Olwethu (Sosibo), Nobahle (Mdelwa), Asanda (Mchunu) and Fanele (Madonsela), all of whom were part of the under-20 national team. Mhlongo has a scholarship in Spain, through LaLiga’s programme in collaboration with the COSAFA/SAFA and is spending a year in Madrid.
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