8 February 2023 –  An exciting Under-15 Interprovincial tournament has been launched at SAFA House and it is intended to showcase some of the best young talent in South Africa.

The project is a collaboration between the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS), and it was launched by SAFA Vice President Linda Zwane and the Association’s Technical Director Walter Steenbok on Wednesday (8 February 2023).  FIFA TDS Talent coach Dean Selvey was also in attendance.

The tournament will be held in July 2023 where the nine provincial teams will play against invited academies, with the aim of selecting the next batch of Under-17 national team players.

“The main idea around this tournament is to bring the talent we have to one main area, and have them showcased under the Talent Development Scheme,” said Steenbok.

“We also want to avoid the issue we have at U17 level, where there is no data base, and every time the national team has to compete, we have to create a new team. We want to use this tournament to start grooming the class of 2025.

“We will be assisting the provinces in the next few months, to ensure that they identify the best players around them to build their squads ahead of the Interprovincial tournament in July 2023. We will also be sending our scouting team to the provinces to check in from time to time on the progress that the provincial teams are doing.”

SAFA Vice President Zwane said the tournament will be a great innovation to ensure that the SAFA regions comply with their quota as part of the compliance matrix.

“This programme speaks to the Association’s agenda and the vision we have going forward. South Africans can look forward to the tournament that will happen in July and the national team that will be produced by it,” he said.