Girls' College Football, South Africa.

This post may not fit in completely with the general theme of my blog, but this topic is something that I feel needs more attention.

I have recently acquired a job at Treverton College in Mooi River, South Africa, coaching the girls U15 soccer team. Although I understand that College sport is not in the same league as club sport, I feel there are still necessary measures that need to be taken if it is to be taken seriously.

I coach at Treverton twice a week for an hour and a half each time and, normally, there is a great turn out of girls that are enthusiastic and eager to play. There are approximately 22 girls each session. In a sense, I am very relieved that the staff were happy for me to coach the girls as I don't think that they had a coach of experience for the term before I applied for the job. I was surprised to find out that the other coach assigned for the term for the U15s hardly knew anything about the sport. For a South African boarding school that is highly regarded for it's sport, it was unexpected that there was not sufficient coaching. Despite this, I hope the college is happy to have me as I thoroughly enjoy what I do for the girls.

My frustration increased after my first match as coach last Thursday, where the girls were to play St Anne's Diocesan School U15As. Firstly, St Anne's casually arrived approximately half an hour late, delaying kick-off. Although Treverton came out with a successful 2-1 win, I found the casual approach to the whole ordeal quite unsettling, and extremely different to how matters were handled when I was playing college soccer in England. There was no official referee, and a 1st team boys' soccer player was used instead. However, this was not really an issue, and the ref did a great job. There was no medical staff nearby in the case of an injury, either, which should be necessary, especially considering where the college is situated.

Above all of this, what irritated me the most is the fact that there were some seriously talented girls that are not given the correct exposure. It's girls like the ones I coach that need to be given a chance in a much bigger and serious sporting environment. They are huge assets to the school team, but school coaches should be looking to encourage their development in a more professional atmosphere. I understand that this is difficult, especially at a college sport level, but I am sure that, if they wanted to badly enough, they could look to find other opportunities for them. I was made aware that a few of the girls were selected to play for the KwaZulu-Natal Schools representative side, but then I was told that they've only ever played with them once. There is a huge gap in this, and the Natal side either needs to take matters more seriously, or colleges such as Treverton need to seek alternative opportunities for the girls that display such incredible talent.

Overall, not enough attention is being payed to the potential that exists in colleges such as Treverton. The future lies in the youth, after all, and how is the future supposed to be positively ensured if nobody is giving them the attention they deserve?

All for now,
Gabi