27 Apr 2021

The inaugural COSAFA Women’s Champions’ League tournament has been described as an avenue for women’s football growth in the Southern Africa region.

Speaking an interview on Monday, Botswana Football Association (BFA) National Executive Committee (NEC) female representative, Lobito Ncube said the objective of the tournament was to build women footballers, who could compete internationally.

Ncube also appreciated the Botswana Football Association and its stakeholders for engaging in a transparent procedural process that saw Prisons XI team being selected to represent Botswana at the tournament.

She said the competition would put players in a good position to attract foreign scouts and earn international contracts in the future, something that would further advance the growth of women’s football.

“It is such an incredible milestone for our women football to get representation in the tournament and it will be equally worthwhile to see Prisonx XI representing the country and making it to the finals of the tournament,” she said.

“Women football has been doing well lately and this is another chance to showcase our talent and attract more spectators even from outside,” she said.

“Who knows, maybe Prisons XI will make history and win the champions league and set us closer to our goals.

Participation in this tournament gives us hope as women, as it shows we have a bright future in the game.”

The Prisons XI team participation in the tournament, she said would also expose players internationally, further adding that she was optimistic that by end of this year, they would have exported not fewer than three players because lots of agents worldwide, as far as the USA, had been paying attention.

Ncube added that they were still in planning on how to assist Prisons XI in their preparations for the trournament.

“Processes on how we can assist Prisons XI are underway. We will together with the team, look at every opportunity and see where we can help each other, be it financially, technically, psychologically or whatever way, we will put our support behind the team,” she said.

The COSAFA tournament will see eight sides split into two groups of four, where they will play a minimum of three games each.

The eight teams confirmed to take part in the tournament are Prisons XI (Botswana), Manzini Wanderers LFC (eSwatini), Lesotho Defense Force (Lesotho), Costa Do Sol (Mozambique), Tura Magic FC (Namibia), Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC (South Africa), Green Buffaloes Women FC (Zambia), and Black Rhino Queens FC (Zimbabwe).

The COSAFA Women’s Champions tournament will serve as a qualifier for the CAF Women’s Champions League.

The tournament is expected to take place either in June or August. ENDS