{"id":38840,"date":"2024-03-22T09:43:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T07:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=38840"},"modified":"2024-03-22T09:43:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T07:43:17","slug":"enticing-second-season-of-the-gwdl-kicks-off-on-24-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=38840","title":{"rendered":"Enticing second season of the GWDL kicks off on 24 March"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-38857 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/football-mamelodi-sundowns-220324-400x259.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"259\" \/>The <strong>Gauteng Women&#8217;s Development League (GWDL)<\/strong> is gearing up for its second season, starting with action in the u14 division on 24 March at the <strong>JP Bezuidenhout Stadium<\/strong> in Edenvale, Johannesburg.<\/p>\n<p>The games start at 09:00 and supporters have been urged to get to the venue as early as possible to allow for easy entry and to enjoy a day filled with captivating women&#8217;s football.<\/p>\n<p>The league has grown steadily since its inception, and this year will be even stronger with the addition of two streams in the u14 and u16 divisions. The u16 GWDL springs into action on 7 April, just a week after the u14 division kicks off.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are thrilled to see such a positive response to the league, with many teams joining and showing great enthusiasm to compete in this prestigious women&#8217;s football development league,&#8221; said GWDL administrator <strong>Mondli Dube<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a significant milestone for women&#8217;s football in South Africa and, with a well-structured league and increased investment in the women&#8217;s game, we can only imagine the bright future ahead for our national women&#8217;s team, <strong>Banyana Banyana<\/strong>, which has already achieved remarkable success in recent times under the leadership of <strong>coach Desiree Wicks<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mamelodi Sundowns<\/strong>, who are the <a href=\"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/tenacious-mamelodi-sundowns-and-jvw-ladies-claim-pre-season-titles\/\">defending champions of GWDL and the inaugural championsof the GWDL top 8 competition<\/a>, have invested heavily in their women&#8217;s football programme. The Brazilians, under the leadership of coach <strong>Rhoda Mulaudzi<\/strong>, kick off their title defence on Sunday against Refilwe FC.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JVW <\/strong>should be in the title race. They&#8217;ve pushed Sundowns to their limits whenever the teams have met, whether it has been in the <strong>Hollywoodbets Super League <\/strong>or the GWDL.<\/p>\n<p>The presence of academies, such <strong>Remember Elite Sports Academy (RESA) <\/strong>is also a boost for the GWDL<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>RESA narrowly missed out on playing for gold at the GWDL Top 8 Cup. After holding Mamelodi Sundowns to a 0-0 draw, they went down from the penalty spot in their semi-final showdown.<\/p>\n<p>The academy has a strong track record of identifying and producing top talents, which have included <strong>Thabang Monare<\/strong>, who plays in the midfield for <strong>Orlando Pirates<\/strong>, and <strong>Mduduzi &#8220;Mdu&#8221; Mdantsane<\/strong>, of <strong>Kaizer Chiefs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Another team that bears watching is <strong>UP Tuks<\/strong>, who have strong youth development structures through all sports. They&#8217;re consistently among the top achievers in Varsity sports, school competitions and national leagues, and with top-notch facilities, UP Tuks has set a high standard for sports investment.<\/p>\n<p>Their return to the second season of GWDL comes with a promise of tough competition, but they&#8217;ll be sternly tested by JVW in their opener.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fixtures<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Field 1, 09:00: Highlands Park vs West Youth Academy<br \/>\nField 2, 09:00: JVW vs Tuks<br \/>\nField 1, 10:30: Kenneth FC vs Tornado Ladies<br \/>\nField 2, 10:30: Kempton Park FC vs RESA<br \/>\nField 1, 11:45: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Refilwe FC<br \/>\nField 2. 11;45: Origin FC vs Panorama FC<br \/>\nField 1, 12:45: West Youth Academy vs Edenvale FC<br \/>\nField 2, 12:45: Tornado Ladies vs Highlands Park<br \/>\nField 1, 13:45: RESA vs JVW<br \/>\nField 2, 13:45: Refilwe FC vs Kenneth FC<br \/>\nField 1, 15:00: Panorama FC vs Kempton Park FC<br \/>\nField 2, 15:00 Origin FC vs Mamelodi Sundowns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Gauteng Women&#8217;s Development League (GWDL) is gearing up for its second season, starting with action in the u14 division on 24 March at the JP Bezuidenhout Stadium in Edenvale, Johannesburg. The games start at 09:00 and supporters have been urged to get to the venue as early as possible to allow for easy entry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":29491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}