BY Obakeng Maje

The South African Under/20 Women’s National Team (Basetsana) will go into camp on Sunday, 02 December 2012 to start preparations for the Zone VI Games scheduled to take place in Lusaka, Zambia from 7-16 December 2012.

The games will be played at the Nkoloma and Zanaco Sunset Stadiums in the capital city of Lusaka.

The Zone VI Games is an initiative of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) to further the development of football in the southern region.

The women competition will consist of four U-20 women’s teams from South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Basetsana will kick-off their campaign with a clash against hosts Zambia at the Nkoloma Stadium on Friday, 7 December. Kickoff is at 20h00.

In their second match, they will face Namibia on Monday, 9 December at the same venue, with the kickoff scheduled for 15h00.

The final group stage encounter for Basetsana will see them play neighbours Zimbabwe at the Zanaco Sunset Stadium. Kickoff is at 16h00.

The team that finishes top of the group will take on the third-placed side, while the second-positioned nation will play the country that finishes fourth.

The semi-finals are scheduled for Zanaco Sunset Stadium on Thursday, 13 December.

The losers of the semi-finals will battle it out for the bronze medal in the third/fourth place play-offs, also to be played at the Zanaco Sunset Stadium on Friday, 14 December.

The final will take place at the Nkoloma Stadium on Sunday, 16 December 2012.

The South Africans will hold camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.

Basetsana head coach, Sheryl Botes has called up 20 players who will be taking part in the tournament.

“It has been a while since this team has played, so I am happy we got this opportunity to play on a competitive stage and we are looking forward to this event. It is important that the players get as much international experience as possible. This outing will help us prepare well for the World Cup qualifiers which will begin in October next year,” said Botes.

“We want to do well in this tournament and we will be drawing some inspiration from Banyana Banyana who went to the London Olympics and also finished second in the CAF African Women’s Championship recently. Our aim is to reach the final, but if we don’t, we should not look at it as failure but an ideal work out.”

Basetsana will be without the services of striker Jermaine Seoposenwe who will be writing exams but the experienced Robyn Moodaly and Nomvula Kgoale, who have both played in the Banyana Banyana team, return to boost the squad.

Basetsana squad for the Zone VI games: