20 Jun 2023

Granada Wanderers Football Club are intent on winning the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) sponsored national women’s championships, but with some requisite support.

After qualifying for DTCB finals to be held in Gaborone July 8, Granada solicits for all kinds of support for the Selebi Phikwe based side that won all their two games played via round robin.

In an interview post the three team playoffs at Sam Sono Stadium, Sunday, Granada coach Gomolemo Rantong said, “Our players are in dire need of support.”

“They are marginalised and some are single parents and are facing all sorts of social problems.

We call on Batswana to come and support,” said Rantong who added that their win was actually for the SPEDU region. Granada, competing in Selebi Phikwe Regional Football Association, booked a ticket to join the fairest four at DTCB national championships after peppering Tsabotlhe FC 5-0 on Saturday and eased past Mahalapye’s Mafia Visions FC, Sunday evening during

Eastern Block women’s football championships.

A ruthless side, Granada has scored 83 goals and conceded only one during the SPRFA women’s football league and now targets the big pie in the capital city.

“We are going there to put up a fight for the big prize.

We were there last year and we learnt invaluable lessons,” Rantong said and added that their aim was to reach the final.

The ultimate winner of the DTCB women’s national championships pocket P250 000, the runners up get P150 00, third placed get P100 000 and the fourth go home with a P50 000 boost from the P1.5 million injected by the DTCB annually for three years.

In snatching the P250 000 first prize, Rantong believes his team would be on the right course to enhance and perfect their image in order to attract investors and good will.

“Last year we knocked at every door soliciting support, but all was in vain,” said the coach, who painted a plight of a women’s football at regional league level.

His team, he said, struggled with transport, feeding of players, camping and other necessities, thereby forcing individuals to dig deeper into their pockets to save the day. “Here we volunteer our time and also spend our hard-earned money to help,” he said.

While reiterating the challenges faced by women’s football at regional leagues, Mafia Visions coach congratulated Granada for qualifying for the moneyed leg.

“We have a good team (Granada) to represent the eastern block,” said coach Herman Chilalu who blamed natural lawn for his team’s poor showing.

Visions, from Central South, walked home with a point gained against Tsabotlhe of Central North. Chilalu argued that had the playoffs been held at a hard ground, a surface his players were accustomed to, results could have been different.

Although he saw growth in women’s football, Chilalu echoed Rantong’s sentiments regarding the challenges faced by women football. “Women’s football requires someone with passion and patience,” he said, expressing hope  that his players learnt priceless lessons during the campaign.

“We have players commuting to training for more than 30km that we need to provide with transport fares,” he added, saying adding to their woes was their infancy. Ends