Cape Town - The sky is the limit for Belgravia soccer star Havana Meyer, who has been chosen to take part in a tournament in Madrid, Spain, in April.
The 18-year-old now needs help to raise R40 000 by March.
“Going to Spain would mean that I get the opportunity to showcase my talent in front of international scouts and hopefully get scouted,” said Meyer.
“My love for the game started at the age of six and I’m extremely happy to play the beautiful game. I have never been the player to settle for less than average.”
Meyer was selected by the BT Football recruitment agency to play in Madrid.
The opportunity came after she received an invitation from the agency in October last year to join their trials for the upcoming tour in Spain, and she was successful.
Meyer said together with a squad of around 15 girls, they will be representing South Africa in the Spanish capital.
Meyer has already won several awards, including Player of the Year for Alexander Sinton High School, and the Spectators Player of the Year award for her club, Avondale, in 2022.
Her dream of following in the footsteps of professional players like Lucy Bronze, Alexia Putellas and Banyana Banyana star Thembi Kgatlana hangs in the balance due to funding for her trip.
Each player has to raise R48000, which covers flights, accommodation and visas.
“With the time getting closer to leaving, the stress and anxiety becomes more because of the outstanding funds I need to pay,” she said.
Her mom, Tina Meyer, said they hosted fundraisers and received a few donations, but it has not been enough.
“It’s a huge amount of money to raise in a very short space of time and given that we are a single income house only, we have been battling. But God is good and we are faithful.”
Tina said that despite the stress of raising the funds they would continue to work hard to help her daughter achieve her goals.
“One day, when she is established, she will pay forward what was sown into her.”
Brandon Timmy, a representative of BT Football, said that women’s football was the “talk of the town” in Spain and opportunities for women were growing.
“When we ventured into this we wanted to give females equal opportunity and Spain was the perfect destination. The players won’t just play football but will get some education from various coaches,” he said.