Wade to carve her way in world football

The rising star in South African women™s football Jessica Wade was part of the team that qualified for the 2018 FIFA Women™s Under-17 World Cup in Uruguay, the only second time South Africa participated in the competition.

After spending a couple of years with JVW FC, she played in the Hollywoodbets Super League for the University of Johannesburg.

Wade is now spreading her wings to the super competitive European leagues. She™s spent the last few weeks training with Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands and says it™s time to grow.

œYeah so I™ve spent time in Europe lately and I have been training with some really good team and I™ve got some really positive feedback, so I am just looking for the next opportunity, just the right fit-the right move for me. The kinds of hopes and aspirations that I have in Europe: I would just like to play at the highest level that I possible could and win some trophies-you know said Wade.

In association with Cosafa and LaLiga Santander Wade spent time training with Villarreal after being picked as the best players after the Cosafa Under-20 along with Mduduzi Shabalala.

She said junior competitions at Cosafa are important in preparation players as there aren™t any others before big tournaments.

As the women™s game in the country is taking shape, the midfielder believes South Africa can learn a lot from how woman™s football is treated in Europe.

"I think the biggest thing that we can take from European women™s football is just the professional, everything is always organised and runs on time and everybody knows their job and just does it to best of their ability, I think that™s something that we can take from them to just improve the women™s game and take it a little bit more serious Wade added.

The 19-year-old is one of the few women that enjoy personal sponsors and she says until the sport is professional, having a personal sponsor goes a long way.

The talented Midfielder added that the tour and training with Villarreal CF has opened her eyes.

By Busisiwe Mokwena