13 July 2017 – Preparations for the 2018 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers kicked off on Wednesday, 12 July at SAFA’s Technical Centre in Johannesburg where a total of 36 talented female footballers have assembled to compete for a place in the U17 national team.

This is the first selection camp for the South African U17 Women’s National Team (Bantwana) following a recent talent identification programme conducted by the South African Football Association (SAFA) in Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and North West.

The remaining five provinces will be visited in due course where another group of players will be selected and invited for the final selection camp before the squad for the qualifiers is concluded.

The three-day camp will see the girls be involved in a series of friendly matches under the watchful eye of former Banyana Banyana star, Simphiwe Dludlu, who will hand pick the best performing players.

Dludlu expressed her satisfaction with the opening day but believes the girls will perform even better in the next few days.

“Today was a great day even though some players were still a bit nervous. I have seen a couple of players that are good and have potential to play internationally once they are coached and groomed properly. It’s the first day so the girls still need to get used to one another but I think the next two days will be even better and we will see healthy competition,” said Dludlu.

The Bantwana selection camp will conclude on Friday, 14 July.

The 2018 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup will be the 6th edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup. The tournament will be held in Uruguay from 20 November to 13 December 2018.

North Korea are the defending champions.

See the coach’s interview here: