UWC Ladies Football Club have been celebrating Women’s Month in style, winning most of their games to date - and they’re on course to defend and even add to the four titles they brought home last year.
The team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAFA Cape Town Coca-Cola Cup and are on top of the Sasol League, just one point ahead of their arch rivals, Cape Town Roses with 10 games remaining.
“Our objective is simple - and that is to play as best as we can in every match,” said coach Nathan Peskin. “The results will take care of themselves.”
And there are other results beyond the scoreboard.
“While trophies are a great reward, our satisfaction lies in seeing the growth and improvement in our young ladies’ lives,” Peskin adds. “We cannot lose sight of that task and the role that sport must play in that. Holistic development must remain our top priority and we as coaches have football as a vehicle to make positive contributions.”
On a related note, the UWC Ladies team has seen another rising star offered a lucrative deal in the United States. Star midfielder Amogelang Motau has been offered a scholarship to study and play football at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma recently. She joins Drishana Pillay and Chamelle Wiltshire who also took up scholarship offers at the same university early in 2017.
They join a number of former UWC students who are pursuing their academic and football dreams in the US. They include Nomvula Kgoale at Lindsey Wilson College, Jermaine Seoposenwe at Samford University in Alabama, Kelso Peskin at Lamar University in Houston and Kaylin Swart at the AIB College of Business in Des Moines.
Peskin congratulates Motau on her offer.
“We are proud to have uplifted and afforded another of our ladies an opportunity like this at the start of Women’s Month. As far as trophies are concerned we'll keep doing the best that we can and work even harder.”
The coach says the team is doing very well under trying circumstances, as national camps (three key players are currently with the University Sports South Africa team at the World Student Games in Taipei) and tournaments, as well the University closure for holidays, make it very difficult to perform consistently.
“The depth in the squad has helped us remain competitive during trying times.”
Captain Nicole Shannon October is extremely confident that another title win is possible, “especially when you look at the quality of our squad”.
October believes that female athletes have grown in confidence in themselves and in their ability to compete with men. “Football in particular has helped flatten the stereotype that women don’t excel at sport.” She says their goal is to consistently perform to the best of their ability in every game and build from there.
“Through this, we stay competitive in all the competitions we participate in, and try to win them all. This year we fell short of a trophy in USSA 2017 in the finals against TUT, but we’re still looking ahead to defending the league title, Coke Cup competition and winning Varsity Football.”
