The Chobe Regional Football Association (CHORFA) has revealed that the Women’s football league in the region has been running smoothly since it commenced in February this year.
CHORFA Moreotsile Juta has explained that registered teams have been honouring all their fixtures, and all the rules and regulations governing the league, with teams showing consistency in their commitment, hard work and team work.
The league was officially launched in 2018, but was halted for three years due to financial constraints that teams grappled with.
The teams plying the league are Panda United, Plateau, Tornado, Vision girls, Fighters and Chobe United. The league is currently on its fifth week and it is expected to end before end of May, 2023.
Panda United leads the log with 12 points followed by Plateau with four points, Tornado is on the third position with six points and Vision Girls sit on position4 with three points. Fighters are on the fifth position with a point while Chobe United is at the bottom of the log with a point.
Juta stated that the association remain adamant that at the end of the current season, they will have a women team representing Chobe region at the DTCB Top 8 Women’s Championship (national league) for the first time. The region, he maintained aims to produce women football stars that would play their trade in the national team and make the Chobe region proud.
“We want to see our players selected to play for the senior women National Team and also participating in bigger competitions such as CAF Women’s Championships League just like some teams from other parts of the country,” he said.
Juta has lamented that the limited number of junior schools in the region, also curtails the growth of women football in the region as they rely on girls from those school for their teams to nurture and grow talent. He said this has led to most teams opting for out of school players who may have passed or are about to pass their prime.
The Chobe district currently has only two Junior Secondary schools, as the highest learning schools in public education mainstream, and there is no senior secondary school in the area.
According to Juta, the financial constraints and lack of sponsorship also limits the formation of new teams in their region. He also decried shortage of female referees in the women’s league indicating that currently there is only one female referee in their region. In terms of refereeing, Juta stated that they have professional referees that recently took part in the refereeing course and are doing well.
