06 Sep 2023

The Bonnita Youth Cup finals will be played in Gaborone at Lekidi Football Centre starting today until Sunday.

Bonnita sponsors the tournament at the tune of P800 000.

Giving a project overview during a press briefing at Lekidi Football Centre yesterday, Botswana Football Association (BFA) technical director, Tshepo Mphukuthi said they were expecting a total of 288 players on an equal ratio for boys and girls to participate in the tournament.

He said a selection of players at the U15 and U17 level for both genders had been done across the country since January.

“We selected four teams based on our regional blocks. After the final on Sunday, players will immediately go back in time for school on Monday,” he said.

Mphukuthi also labelled the tournament a milestone in as far as development of soccer at grassroots level was concerned.

“This is a national championship and we have done all to ensure that players are selected from all the corners of the country,” he said.

He said the partnership with Bonnita would run for two consecutive years.

“This is good for continuity and next year , which will be the last year of the partnership, we will only beef up the players we selected this year,” he said.

He said during the tournament, talent scouts would be around to select players for the youth national teams, both the U15 and U17.

For his part, Bonnita head of marketing, Amakura Erbynn said as the sponsor, they were excited to had partnered with BFA to unearth talent at a youth level.

“We are still in discussions with BFA on the possibility of extending the relationship beyond the two years because we would really want to help unearth young talent for the long term benefit of local soccer,” she said.

Erybnn said winning teams would walk away with brand new soccer boots as well as individual prizes.

For his part, BFA head of refereeing, Jonty Rasetsoga said the tournament would not only help develop players, but coaches and referees as well.

“We have coaches and referees who we need to develop so this tournament will help a lot. It will help develop soccer at all levels,” he said. ENDS