ZOË PESTANA FIRST GIRL TO MAKE BOYS BASEBALL TEAM IN SA

FIRST FEMALE PLAYER TO BE SELECTED FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN ELITE TRAINING SQUAD

Zoë Pestana a devoted and proud Grade 9 learner of Curro Aurora, recently made history as the first female player to be selected for the South African elite training squad under the South African Baseball Union.

Zoë, who started her ‘ball’ journey at the age of eight initially only played softball like her older sister Maddie, but soon her talent was noticed, and she started to attend the METS practices even though it was only for boys. She was determined to play baseball instead of softball and under the guidance of her coach John White she has grown from strength to strength making the all-boys provincial side every single year.

Finally in 2021 a female baseball side was started which she played for as well, while still, she continued to play for the boy’s side as well. By making the Gauteng softball side - it was a very busy time, but she managed everything in her stride including her impressive grades at school!

During April, the Gauteng U15 boys side made it to the finals of the tournament after a grueling 5 days of games playing against all the provincial sides. Zoë had the honour and privilege of being the starting pitcher in the final for Gauteng against Western Cape.

The selections for the U15 Elite training squad were made at this tournament and she made the side which will train for several weeks where they will make their final cut for the SA side traveling to Mexico in August of this year.

If you ask Zoë where she sees herself with baseball, she’s aiming for the MLB but is also happy to just continue with the game and the second family she has discovered within the baseball-softball fraternity!

In 2nd Place with 898 hits

Bsi Football Academy Partners With Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club

BSI FOOTBALL ACADEMY PARTNERS WITH ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB

Balderstone Sports Institute Football Academy is excited to announce an international partnership with English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, commonly known as Wolves.

The partnership brings many benefits to the Academy, its players, and the wider local football community. The collaboration includes monthly education workshops between the coaches of Wolves and BSI Football, ensuring that the local academy is up to date with the latest coaching trends and player development ideas from Europe.

BSI Football Academy will also be hosting coaches from Wolves for annual training camps at its new training facility in Modderfontein, Johannesburg, where local players will have the opportunity to learn directly from Wolves coaches.

THE FIRST WOLVES TRAINING CAMP WILL TAKE PLACE FROM 30TH SEPTEMBER TO 2ND OCTOBER 2022.

Speaking about the partnership, Joe Hunt, International Projects Manager at Wolves had this to say;

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with Balderstone Sports Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over the next few years we will be supporting BSI with football coaching activities in Johannesburg, but also opening the door for them to come to the UK and experience a professional academy environment. We are excited to be coming to South Africa later in the year to coach young players and continue our coach education with the staff at BSI Football Academy.

Welcome to the Pack BSI!”

Wolves have had previous success with international camps in USA and Australia, and BSI Football Academy is delighted to be able to now bring this experience to South Africa to upskill our local talent.

BSI Football’s Technical Director Zeca Marques added;

“The Wolves partnership is a vote of confidence for our Academy, and it gives enormous satisfaction to be associated with a dynamic and progressive English Premier League football club. The road to success is education, and this initiative is about sharing knowledge and expertise which will allow us to access the latest trends in youth development and accelerate the development of our students.”

In an amazing twist of fate, one of BSI’s current U17 players is the grandson of Cliff Durandt, who played for Wolves in the 1950’s and won the league with them. With this new partnership, we could see more South Africans making that same journey.