SAFA launches under 15 inter-provincial tournaments for boys

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has launched under-15 inter-provincial tournaments for boys as part of its football development framework.

The tournament will be held in July and will serve as trials for the newly formed under-15 national team for boys.

A FIFA Talent Development Scheme will assist SAFA to establish another talent pipeline and develop the game at the grassroots level. The Scheme is meant to reduce the disparity in the level of football between different regions of the world.

It’s targeting countries ranked between 50th and 125th on the world rankings.

The project aims to increase the level of competitiveness of these countries and narrow the gap between themselves and the top-ranked nations.

South Africa is amongst the seven countries to pilot the program.

FIFA launched the TDS program in 2021 which will be a holistic approach to technical and educational projects.

FIFA TDS Director, Dean Selvey will oversee the three-year project in South Africa that will run up to the 2026 World Cup.

“The idea around the TDS is to go into every country and give every player a chance by primarily training best with best by increasing contact time with those players and also looking at improving processes.”

Through the FIFA TDS, SAFA established the under-15 Inter-Provincial Tournament for players born between 2008 and 2009. It hopes to expand the program to include girls in the near future.

The tournament will also see the formation of the national under-15 squad.

The team will play in a four-nation tournament against Denmark, Zambia and neighbouring Botswana in September.