When Greenwood Athletic’s Youth Chairperson Raymond Brickles put the word out that the ‘Green Machine’ were recruiting females to get their ladies set-up up and running, little did he know…
In a matter of days the reaction was overwhelming and truth be told exceeded his and everyone else’s expectations at the club.
Women and girls from the Retreat and Steenberg areas ranging from the age 39 years and the youngest being 12 years old, pitched up with great excitement and enthusiasm to join the club – which also underlines the fact that women’s football in Cape Town is the fastest growing sport currently.
”Honestly speaking the turnout was better than what we expected,” Brickles stated to No Bones with Jones. ”Currently we have 25 senior ladies and we are sitting on 32 juniors. When I say juniors it is 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds that will be playing in CDAFA’s (Cape District Football Association) under-14 league this season.
“So for now we have a senior team and two under-14 divisions that will double as our under-16’s as well. Because our district does not have a u-16 league, these girls will just feature in tournaments for now. The senior team will be coached by Warren Lotter while Dominique Thompson will take charge of the juniors.”
Brickles has conceded that the ladies set-up is obviously in its infancy stages and that there are now ridiculous expectations set out for the fairer sex. The senior team will be competing in Safa Cape Town’s Women’s Regional Development league and try and work their way up to the big guns in CT amateur football.
”Our objective for this season is just to grow,” Brickles added. ”We are trying to recruit as many ladies as we can and not gunning for promotion as such because we’ve got lots of inexperienced players mixed with the experience.
”The fitness levels are not up to scratch, you know, as some haven’t been playing for a very long time. So, our objective for this season is to participate, grow and also have fun at the same time,” he further mentioned.
The senior ladies got a reality check when they were walloped 9-1 by Stanturf United from Mitchells Plain during their debut in a WRDL match played at the William Herbert Sport Complex over the weekend.
”Stanturf has a very youthful team in their 16, 17 and 18-year olds and girls that have been playing together for a very long time,” Brickles highlighted. ”They are actually a very good team and we didn’t stand a chance against them.
”They were stronger physically and fitter than us. They are one of the teams to look out for in the league this season. But hey it’s a learning curve for us and Romen wasn’t built in a day,” the passionate Brickles concluded.
