Ascent Soccer standout named Southern Africa's most promising women’s player

On Thursday at the inaugural COSAFA (Council of Southern Africa Football Associations) Awards, 17-year-old Ascent Soccer midfielder Leticia Chinyamula was honoured as the region's Most Promising Women's Player.

Leticia was one of two Ascent nominees for the award, which also included academy teammate and two-time Malawi women's player of the year, 17-year-old Rose Kadzere. The third nominee for the award was 19-year-old Esther Banda of Zambia.

At South Africa's Sandton Convention Centre, Leticia accepted the award with grace, composure and some mindful words of inspiration for the girls of Malawi.

Watch Leticia's acceptance speech!

Both Leticia and Rose starred for the Malawi senior team in November, when they claimed the nation's first COSAFA Cup title. In the five tournament wins over Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Eswatini and the hosts from South Africa, Leticia netted a pair of goals, with Rose adding a goal and four assists.

Ascent Soccer contributed five players to the tournament winning squad and continues to emerge as one of the top female academy set-ups in the region.