ANOTHER success story for Banyana Banyana.
Banyana players – Jermaine Seoposenwe and Nothando Vilakazi – both joined Lithuanian side Gintra Universitetas on a one-year deal.
Seoposenwe says there are many factors that motivated her to reconsider playing overseas again.
In 2013, the Mitchell’s Plain-born Seoposenwe was spotted and offered a soccer scholarship to attend the Samford University in the United States.
Her football flourished in Alabama. In the 2016-17 season, she scored 16 goals to set a new single-season goal scoring record at the university and was called up to the Banyana Rio Olympic squad where she impressed.
Towards the end of 2017, after graduating with a marketing degree, Seoposenwe returned to Mzansi and applied for the Sasol Limitless internship to acquire skills in the workplace that would have come in handy should she decide to hang up her boots.
There was interest from clubs from Sweden, but the player decided to focus on her internship.
However, now the 25-year-old has decided to return overseas as she believes that she is not only doing it for herself.
She said: “I think for me when the opportunity came, I decided to take it because of many factors.
“One of the factors that made me consider is growth.
“I need to grow as a player. It’s not only good for me, but it is important for our national team.
Gintra Universitetas are the same team Banyana midfielder Leandra Smeda played for last year when she made history by becoming the first South African star to score in a Uefa Women’s Champions League match.
Seoposenwe added: “Another thing is the fact that the club play in the a Uefa Women’s Champions League where a player can get much exposure and better offers. Leandra (Smeda) told me about this team and everything, so I could not say no when the opportunity presented itself.”
Seoposenwe and Vilakazi arrived in Lithuania, which is situated at the southernmost of Europe’s Baltic states, on Monday.
They had regeneration session with the team.
The duo are some of the key players who are expected to be in the Banyana Banyana squad when they head to France for their Fifa Women’s World Cup debut from 7 June to 7 July.
