The Gauteng Future Players project heads for Bronkhorstspruit

Johannesburg, Wednesday, 23rd October 2013– There was an excellent turnout of female players at the third leg of the 2014 Future Players Talent Search that held last weekend in Orange Farm for learners in the Johannesburg South region and surrounding areas.

Over 600 learners in total participated on the day at the Chris Hani Stadium, with around 160 of those female players hoping to become future Banyana Banyana internationals.

The programme seeks to promote football among both genders and one of the great success stories to date has been 2009 winner Refiloe Jane, who now plays for Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies and represented Banyana Banyana at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Organisers hope that once again this year they will see over 10 000 learners from around the Gauteng province be assessed by expert coaches to determine if they have the potential to make a professional career out of football.

A total of 12 coaches put the learners through their five different skills tests before deciding which had the talent to advance to the next round of the search, which will culminate at the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament event set for next March.

The next stop in the event will now move on to the Ekangala Sports Complex in Bronkhorstspruit on Saturday (26th October 2013) for learners in the Gauteng North region. The event gets underway at 09h00 and will be completed by 15h00.

The Future Players initiative, run in conjunction with the Gauteng Provincial Government led by the Department of Sport, Arts Culture and Recreation, is open to youngsters aged 13 to 16, who are assessed by the coaches over a number of disciplines.

But there is an important social responsibility aspect and all learners will be given a presentation by LoveLife, South Africa’s largest national AIDS prevention, education and behavior initiative for young people.

The none-profit organization promotes AIDS-free living among South African youth aged between 12 and 19 by employing a holistic approach to youth development and behavior change that motivates adolescents to take charge of their lives for brighter futures.

The best youngsters from the 15 districts in the Gauteng trials will be chosen for the finals to be staged at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville on March 29, 2014.

For further information, please visit:

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  • We had a wonderful football and cultural experience in Gauteng. The tournament and activities were very well organized and we found everyone involved extremely helpful and accommodating. We have all returned home with fantastic memories of our time in South Africa, both on and off the pitch, and have made many new friends as a result of the trip. I hope that we are invited to participate in future tournaments.

    Everton Academy Head Coach

  • The experience both on and off the field for our players during the Future Champions tournament in Gauteng was life-enriching for all those who participated. We were privileged enough to win this edition but what will be bringing us back in future is the cross-cultural education our players receive from spending time with athletes from all over the world. They are human beings before they are football players and enriching them with other cultures is as rewarding as the experience they receive on the field.

    Club Tijuana Director of Football

  • After twenty years of experiencing tournaments around the globe, Future Champions is hands down the best organized, well run International Tournament we have ever participated in. Bringing teams from dozens of different countries provided our boys exposure to cultural diversity they only read about in textbooks. It’s amazing how sport can be the cultural link that provides the opportunity to interact with each other and discover that our global community is a bit smaller than they realized. We had a football and cultural experience that will be cherished for the rest of our lives.

    Director of USYSA Select

  • For us to compete in Future Champions is much more than playing a series of matches. It is an opportunity to compete and contrast our level against the best teams from around the world and the possibility of living in another culture and environment for an unforgettable week, learning about the history of the fight for human rights.

    Director of Aspire Academy

  • The addition of a girls’ competition this year is a natural expansion for what has become a hugely popular event. Over and above the football, the players are also exposed to life-skills courses and HIV/AIDS awareness that could end up saving their lives in the future. We have had an amazing partnership with the Gauteng Province over the last decade and we thank each and every stakeholder for making the Future Champions Gauteng campaign such a huge success

    Tournament director