Copperbelt Ladies FC, the Limpopo representative at the 2021 Sasol League National Championships, are facing basic challenges as they ready themselves to attempt to gain promotion to the Hollywoodbets Super League.
The club finished first in the provincial stream but coach Lesetja Laka has revealed that they lack a whole lot of things from soccer balls, boots, training kit, training equipment and even first aid kits. Laka says they have had to do with what was available to them.
“We are lacking in training equipments, we cannot conduct our sessions the way we want because of insufficient training equipment,” Laka said.
“We have been getting balls here and there. Like today we borrowed balls so that we can get our preparations in line. It is a bit hard considering the environment that some of our players come from, their backgrounds.
“Mostly they borrow (boots) on game days, now some of them couldn’t borrow because they can only borrow for games and not for practice.”
Laka explains this is not an isolated incident, saying some clubs in their province couldn’t honour league fixtures due to lack of money for travelling.
Asked how they survived the season with such challenges the coach said they relied on the mercy of good Samaritans.
“The philosophy of the team is to get the most disadvantaged children and give them a chance and hope through soccer,” he added.
“It has been a struggle throughout the season just to get to games, we were asking for donations throughout. There were people who were generous enough to provide us with transport and that’s how we could finish the season.”
When Laka was asked if the club ever approached the South African Football Association (SAFA) for assistance he responded by saying the club’s management has done that but without success.
SAFA is paying for the side to get and stay in Durban, however Laka admits he would have loved to get to Durban earlier for acclimatization.
This is Copperbelt’s first season in the Sasol League and despite their challenges they want to finish in the top two at the national championships which take place between 6 and 12 December 2021.
