Soccer
Big soccer championship this weekend in North West─── 16:49 Wed, 09 Jul 2014
Lee Khotlele
All stages are set for the 2014 under 21 SAB Regional League national championship which will be organised in North West, Mahikeng Campus from 13-20 July 2014.
The tournament involves nine provincial teams and an invitational team from University Sports South Africa (USSA).
The u/21 players of the all nine provincial teams playing the Regional League participate in this tournament, and the USSA team completes the lineup.
Each province has its own technical team. This team attends the league matches and picks their players to represent the province.
The tournament enters its 15th year. Gauteng clinched the title in Mpumalanga after beating the USSA side 4-3 on penalties at the KaNyamazane Stadium in Nelspruit in 2012.
Last year, the tournament was held in Stellenbosch and the Western Province beat Mpumalanga 3-2 to be crowed the champions. The SAFA competition’s director, Jeff Monnakgotla, says they expect a competitive tournament.
“All stages are set for this annual event. We are looking forward to it and hope to see entertaining and exciting action from the teams,” Monnakgotla tells OFM.
The teams will be divided into three groups and play in a round robin format over a week. The final will take place at the Itsoseng Stadium in Lichtenburg on the 20th July 2014.
The u/21 championship has produced players such as Bafana Bafana's Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Happy Jele.
Graduates of the Regional League include Andile Jali, Ndumiso Mabena, Dareen Keet, Thulasizwe Mbuyane, Lehlohonolo Majoro, Lucky Lekgwathi, Vincent Kobola, Tlou Molekwane and Gift Leremi.
