The Women's Under-20 football tournament at the 2012 Zone VI Games gets underway this Friday in Lusaka, Zambia. The football competitions at the Zone VI Games will be run by the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), who will bring their expertise to the event and count this as their regional champion ship in this age-group for 2012.

The women's Under-20 tournament will be contested between hosts Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, with each team facing the other in a round-robin format.

The first round of fixtures will be played at the Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka on Friday, when Zimbabwe take on Namibia at 13h00 and Zambia meet South Africa at the same venue at 20h00.

South Africa have a number of players with senior international experience in their squad and will hope to do well at the even under coach Sheryl Botes.

Namibia have warmed-up well for the competition when their women's Under-20 side won the NFA DFB Women's Super Cup at the weekend, beating Challengers 8-0 in the final.

Zimbabwe are the defending champions after they won Gold at the 2009 Games in Swaziland and must be considered contenders again.

Home soil will be a big boost for Zambia, who always put out competitive teams at whatever level of international football they compete.

The semi-finals feature the team that finishes first in the pool take on the bottom side in the semi-finals, while second meets third. The third-place play-off will be played on December 14, with the final scheduled for the Nkoloma Stadium on December 16.