Women’s soccer taking bigger strides

Bantwana College Football Club NPC will be hosting its annual 7-a-side women’s football tournament this Saturday, 2 November. Sixteen teams from across Johannesburg will assemble at the Barney Gaffney Stadium in Bosmont to battle it out to be named the pride of Johannesburg’s women’s football.

Representing Roodepoort will be the hosts, Bantwana College as well as Florida Albion Ladies, ETS and Bulte Ladies. The rest of the field will be made up of teams from Soweto, Diepsloot, Randburg, Midrand, the East Rand and even a special guest team from the Shayandima Location in Limpopo. Each year the tournament goes from strength to strength, so local football fans can gear up for a day of quality entertainment.

With Banyana Banyana doing the nation proud at the FIFA Women’s World Cup earlier this year, the focus on women’s football has increased. The goal of creating a solid platform for female footballers to develop and eventually realise their ambitions, becomes more achievable every day. An upstart professional league is in its infancy and with regular tournaments like these, young female talent has a stage on which to shine.

Mastermind and visionary, Theo Buttress, who coaches the host team, has worked tirelessly to promote women’s football. His roller coaster journey across Johannesburg’s North West suburbs has embodied the level of stubborn dedication the country needs to elevate women’s football to the level it deserves. One forward step at a time, and occasionally one back, Buttress strides defiantly towards the ultimate prize of women’s football recognition.

Registration starts at 8am with kick-off at 9am. There will be activities for the kiddies and TVs for anyone concerned about the rugby. There will also be raffles and prizes for the public throughout the day, but best of all, some top-shelf women’s football.