The inaugural SAFA Talent Identification Scheme [TDS] roars to life at Panorama Football Club fields on the weekend of 8-9 July 2023.
The tournament draw was conducted on Tuesday 27 June at the SAFA House. Present at the event were the SAFA executive board members, participating teams’ representatives, members of the media and tournament sponsors.
TEAMS PARTICIPATING IN THE SAFA TSD TOURNAMENT
The tournament will consist of 16 teams and they will battle it out for gold. Professional football teams include Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United.
Football academies include the School of Excellence, KwaZulu Natal Academy, Cape Town Academy and Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools.
The provincial teams are the most, these include Gauteng FA [hosts] Mpumalanga FA, Kwa Zulu Natal FA, Eastern Cape FA, Western Cape FA, Northern Cape FA, Limpopo FA, North West FA and FreeState FA.
WHAT SAFA TDS AIMS TO ACHIEVE
According to SAFA Technical Director Walter Steenbok, the tournament aims to try to identify talent that will form the first Under-15 national team for the SAFA Academy.
“These players will then develop together and become the next generation of the South African U17 Men’s National Team in 2025,” said Steenbok.
“Going forward, the aim is also to introduce these youngsters to international football at a young age.”
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SAFA TDS
On the day of the tournament, soccer clinics will be available. Young children will have an opportunity to learn some basic football skills from the legends of the game.
To have a huge tournament coverage, the organisers have partnered with football broadcaster SuperSport. Therefore, all the matches will be live on the television, SuperSport channel 216.
To bridge the gap of age cheating, all participating players will have to produce a valid identification document.
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