Bantwana(SA Women's U-17) prepare for World Cup qualifiers

The South African Under 17 Women's National Team (Bantwana) is in camp to start preparations for the World Cup qualifiers set to begin in January next year. The camp started on Friday, 11 November and will end on Sunday, 11 November 2011. Training will conducted at the Edenvale Sports Grounds in Johannesburg. The FIFA Under 17 World Cup tournament will take place in Azerbaijan from 22 September to 13 October 2012. Bantwana will take on Namibia away in the qualifiers on the weekend of 21/22 January. They will then battle it out against either Ghana or Cameroon for a ticket to Azerbaijan. Bantwana made history by being the first South African Women's National Team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Under 17 Women's Cup staged in Trinidad and Tobago last year. Head coach Gregory Mashilo is assisted by Anna Monate. "Early preparations will get the team physically fit and conditioned for the qualifications. Twenty (20) players will feature in the first of several preparation camps to follow. The team contains three players that participated in the last Under 17 Women’s World Cup and these are Meagan Newman, Kelso Peskin and Nomvula Kgoale. The bulk of the squad is those players who took part in the FNB Football tournament last month. Several of the new players were those selected during the FIFA FAP selection trials held in Edenvale last month," said Mashilo. He adds that this is the first of several camps to follow. The aim is to get the players physically fit and conditioned following their superb performance in the FNB football tournament held last month. Bantwana won the event which was played at the University of Johannesburg in Soweto "I would like to see the team maintain or even better the performance they showed during the FNB tournament, taking for example the game against Namibia. Five of the eight goals we scored were from set pieces. I would also like to keep the momentum going and put more emphasis on the tactical work going forward to ensure that we set our goal towards qualifying for the World Cup next year," added Mashilo. "The previous U17 National team qualified for the last World Cup and expectations are high that this team will follow suit," said Fran Hilton-Smith, SAFA’s Assistant Technical Director. Bantwana squad: Name and Surnames Clubs Goalkeepers Katlego Moletsane HPC  Yvonne Miya HPC  Tarryn-Lee Davids HPC  Defenders Meagan Newman HPC Thato Letsoso HPC Tshepo Sekgala Modimolle Ladies FC LMP Drishana Pillay Tuks - Athletics Thonako Pudutsoane Celta Vigo FC  GP Midfielders Lesego Nkoane Westridge High School  GP Koketso Mamabolo HPC Kelso Peskin HPC Shennell Jacobs HPC Amanda November EC Mosili Makhoali Celta Vigo  FC  GP Thembi Kgatlana Parmer Dev. FC  GP Holofelang Manyama Bakone Ladies FC LMP Strikers Katleho Moleke HPC Zahra Ebrahim Marquad Proteas FC Xiluva Tshabalala Ma-Indies FC  LMP Sharon Mtsweni St. Mary's FC  MPU