Ntseki backs FIFA TDS programme comeback to widen U15-U17 talent search across the country

Played at the Florida Albion grounds in Johannesburg this past weekend, the tournament was a huge success, with all the provinces represented – bar Western Cape in the boys’ section. Ntseki explained that, since they were unable to host the tournament last year, this past weekend’s event counted as the 2025 event, with another TDS tournament scheduled for September this year.

"So it's a continuation of the same project. We were supposed to have the TDS program 2025 last year, but because of many other challanges we ended up targeting the March holidays," said Ntseki

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"I'm very happy that we started with the girls and everything went well with the girls. And now we are concluding the boys and all the provinces were represented. We invited three of the GDL teams to be part of this project and that gave us twelve teams, in the twelve teams we divided them into three groups, and then the best two teams were to go in to the quarterfinals and the best third placed finishers, two number threes, were to go into the quarterfinals."

"So I think it has been working out very well. One has to appreciate the efforts from the coaches from the provinces, from the provincial executive officers, to have to put the team together and to make sure that they do come to Johannesburg for this tournament to happen."

The nucleus of the team that represented South Africa in the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar, coached by Vela Khumalo, came from this team and scouted throughout the country. Ntseki says the current U16 team that is playing a four-nations tournament in Bulgaria is a product of this TDS programme.

As with the previous TDS tournaments, Ntseki reveals that they had scouts during this past weekend’s tournament who selected players from all the provinces, with the aim of building new U17 national teams for both boys and girls going forward.

Meanwhile, Ntseki has also clarified the issue of player selection for the junior teams and explained that all regions and provinces are covered. He was responding to the uproar over the latest team selection in Bulgaria, mainly made up of players from Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Ubuntu FC. Ntseki further explains that when the national selection is made, these players come from different provinces but are then scouted by clubs.

Ntseki says the U16 team in Bulgaria, coached by Selekedi Mogale, which lost 3-0 to Georgia on Saturday and will play Kosovo today and Bulgaria on Wednesday, was also selected in the same way, with some players initially coming from provinces before being scouted by their current clubs.