Pretoria - Aspirant footballers between the ages of six and 12 in Mangaung, Bloemfontein are set to nurture and develop their skills through a football programme funded by FIFA in their area.
The second phase of the Grassroots football programme, funded by the world football's governing body FIFA, was launched on Wednesday.
The first phase of the program was launched earlier this year in Tshwane and Mafikeng respectively as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup legacy.
Head of Football Development at South African Football Association (SAFA), Thomas Sadiki, said the first two editions of the programme were a great success.
In Tshwane alone, he said they managed to introduce 1385 kids to football within three hours, which was a world record.
SAFA's Chairman of Youth and Development Committee, Mzwandile Maforvane said the initiative was good for the future of football in the country.
"The process is continuing and gaining momentum as we anticipated and we are satisfied with what we have achieved so far.
"We said at the first launch earlier this year that we are embarking on an important journey of repositioning our development programs, today we are taking this process forward by launching it here. What is left is for us to roll out to all the other regions of SAFA," he said.
Maforvane said through the programme the country's football would be taken to its rightful place of being one of the best on the continent.
"We would also like to show our appreciation for the support from the departments of Sports, Recreation and Education. We are confident that this partnership will grow from strength to strength for the betterment of grassroots football," he said.
FIFA Development Officer, Ashford Mamelodi said the goal of the project was to ensure that every boy and girl starts participating in the game at an early age for the good of all the national teams.
"It is a very ambitious program, but one that can be achieved. We want kids to be ready for competition because we all know there is no competition in the early stages of development.
"If we get this one right, then academies like the School of Excellence will have good players to pick from and they can compete better than they are doing now," Mamelodi said.
He said the junior national teams would also benefit, but the greatest beneficiary would be Bafana Bafana. "With this program, the future looks very bright. There is huge potential and if we get it right South Africa will be world beaters," he said.
