Saudi Women's U-17 Tournament
 | |
| Founded | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Region | Saudi Arabia |
| Number of teams | 18 (2023–24) |
| Current champions | Al-Shabab (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Al-Shabab (1 title) |
| Website | SAFF Women's U-17 Tournament |
 2024–25 Saudi Women's U-17 Tournament | |
The SAFF Women's U-17 Tournament (Arabic: بطولة الاتحاد السعودي للناشئات) is the main competition for girls under 17 and is held annually It was created and run by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in 2023.[1]
Director of the Women's Football Department, Alia Al-Rasheed, said that this step represents a qualitative shift in women's football plans in the Kingdom, noting that the focus in the current period is on building a distinguished generation of young women and increasing the number of official matches for them, which contributes to raising the technical quality of female players.[2]
Format
[edit]Participating teams
[edit]In the inaugural edition, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation extended participation rights to all teams with women's Under-17 teams, including three Regional Training Centers (Arabic: مراكز التدريب الإقليمية). Teams were required to register a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 40 players, with eligible player ages ranging from 12 to 17 years.[3] For the second edition, participation was restricted to clubs from the Saudi Premier League and First Division only, with a minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 30 players allowed per team.[4][5]
Format & Seeding
[edit]In the inaugural edition, participating teams were divided into groups based on their regional locations, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the knockout stage, which featured the quarterfinals, semifinals, final, and a third-place playoff.[3] In the second edition, the number of groups on the group stage was expanded from four to five, With three teams advancing from the Riyadh and Jeddah groups and two teams qualifying from the Dammam groups, accumulating a total of 14 teams in the knockout stage, which followed a straight knockout format until a champion was determined in the final.[5][6]
Match rules
[edit]In the first edition, all matches were played in two halves of 35 minutes each, using a nine-a-side (9 x 9) format.[3] This was changed to an eleven-a-side (11 x 11) format in the second edition.[5]
Results
[edit]| Ed. | Season | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023–24 | Al-Shabab | 1–0 | Al Hilal | Eastern Flames | 0–0 (4–3 p) |
Al Qadsiah | Noon Academy Stadium, Jeddah |
Winners
[edit]| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Shabab | 1 | 0 | 2023–24 | |
| Al Hilal | 0 | 1 | 2023–24 |
Individual awards
[edit]| Season | Best Player | Top scorers | Best Goalkeeper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24[7] | Luluh Al-Jaweni (Al-Shabab) | Basma Al-Shenaifi (Al Nassr) | Fajr Al-Saqqaf (Al Hilal) |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "The U-17 Women's SAFF Championship will be launched". saff.com.sa. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ "دوري عالية الرشيد: السعودية تركز على تنمية الناشئات" [Alia Al-Rasheed: Saudi Arabia focuses on developing young women.]. kooora.com (in Arabic). Riyan Al-Jidani. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ a b c "السعودية تعلن تفاصيل بطولة الناشئات" [Saudi Arabia announces the details of the Junior Women's Championship.]. kooora.com (in Arabic). Riyan Al-Jidani. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ @saff_wfd (12 June 2024). "تعرّفوا على تحديثات موسم 25/24" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c "تحديثات المسابقات النسائية لموسم 24 / 25" [Women's competition updates for the 24/25 season.]. alghad.com (in Arabic). 12 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
- ^ "الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم يعلن عن انطلاق النسخة الثانية من بطولة الاتحاد السعودي للناشئات تحت 17 عام" [The Saudi Arabian Football Federation announces the launch of the second edition of the Saudi Federation Championship for Girls Under-17.]. saff.com.sa (in Arabic). Saudi Arabian Football Federation. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "الشباب يحصد بطولة الاتحاد السعودي للناشئات" [Al-Shabab wins the Saudi Federation for girls Tournament.]. kooora.com (in Arabic). Riyan Al-Jidani. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.