Seven hundred boys and girls come together in Paraguay from 27 March to 5 April
Finals of the South American Development League in three age groups
Each country in the CONMEBOL Zone represented by three teams
Held in Paraguay from 27 March to 5 April, the finals of the South American Development League are bringing together 700 young players from the ten countries that make up the CONMEBOL Zone. The competition covers three age groups in all: U-14s and U-16s for girls and U-13s for boys.
Each of the ten countries is represented by one team in each competition, which all follow the same format: teams are split into two round-robin groups, with the top two sides in each group advancing to the semi-finals. The losing semi-finalists then contest the match for third place and the winners the final.
The Women’s Football Development Leagues form part of the Programa Evolución (“Evolution Programme”), an initiative that aims to encourage young South American women to play the game and to nurture promising youngsters. The regional and national qualifying competitions took place between June and November 2017.
The top three teams in the U-14 competition will go forward to the Disney Cup, a tournament to be held at DisneyWorld. Meanwhile, the winners of the U-16 competition will receive an English language scholarship.
In conjunction with the football tournaments, the development chiefs of CONMEBOL’s member associations attended a workshop that focused on the need to keep working in the right direction and to pool ideas and initiatives.
Participating teams: U-16, U-14, U-13
Argentina: Guachitos Pilarica, Club Atletico Platense, Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield Bolivia: Santa Cruz FC, Academia Tahuichi Aguilera, Florida Brazil: Sao Paulo, Tiger Academia Futebol, SC Internacional Chile: Region de Maule, Region de Maule, Universidad de Chile Colombia: CD Formas Intimas, Santander, Antioquia Ecuador: Carneras UPS Futbol, Espuce, Club Sport Emelec Paraguay: Genesis, Guarani Fortuna, Sol de America Peru: Escuelas de Fut. Fem del Agustino, Municipalidad de la Perla, Club Alianza Lima Uruguay: Club Palmirense, Club Nautico, Liga Sanducera Venezuela: Escuela Juan Arango, Academia Puerto Cabellos, Alcasa
Tournament schedule: