LEFA hands over football equipment

MASERU – The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has handed over footballing equipment to three regions – North, South and Central – as part of the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS).

LEFA launched the programme earlier this year in the respective regions and it has now selected 33 players from each region to total 99 players.

These players are set to go into training and if all goes well the final selection is set to be made after winter.

LEFA’s Youth Development Officer, Mohaila Letseka, said the programme will run for the whole year and it is meant for Under-15 boys with the intention to include girls in the future. He said the oldest players are 13-years-old. Letseka continued that, initially, it was meant to be a one-year programme but Lesotho has qualified for the next stage of the FIFA project and it will now be a four-year cycle.

The north region consists of Mokhotlong, Butha-Buthe, Berea and Leribe and this is where the first leg was first launched. The south region is made up of Mohale’s Hoek, Quthing and Qacha’s Nek, while the central region is made up of Maseru, Mafeteng and Thaba-Tseka.

Letseka said each region has six technical team members and they will each receive leisure wear and backpacks among many other things.

“The objective is to scout talent, train them and take them to the national team,” Letseka said.

“This is the second stage where we will give them the equipment, this includes soccer balls, bibs, markers, jerseys, goalkeeper gloves, first aid kits, whistles, stop watches for the coaches,” he said.

That is not all, there are also soccer boots as well as kit the players will wear when they are not playing.

“The jersey is enough for the number selected; each player will have their own kit. We chose three players for each position and from the 99 we selected we will have a national selection,” Letseka explained.

TDS was launched in 2022 by FIFA with the aim of offering assistance to member associations to help them achieve their full potential and continue the measures taken to reduce the disparity in the level of football between different regions of the world.

While competitions are drivers of development, FIFA says TDS strengthens a solid framework for the pathways that take talent from the point at which they enter the game, all the way through to transition opportunities into senior football.

Tlalane Phahla