By Editorial
South Africa’s national women’s football team, Banyana Banyana, has done the country proud by lifting their seventh Cosafa Championship title in eight attempts.
The only lapse was in 2011 when hosts Zimbabwe pipped South Africa 1-0, but it nevertheless continued an enviable sequence of Banyana reaching every final after four tournaments.
This class of 2020 was shorn of of all their regulars because about 13 players are plying their trade abroad and, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it was not possible to call on these players.
It speaks volumes for the growth of women’s soccer in South Africa that so many players have landed contracts abroad.
Now that this team has conquered southern Africa this is a sign that there is depth in local women’s soccer.
This team, which completed the tournament undefeated, also showed that there is strength in diversity, much like the country’s rugby team demonstrated in Japan a year ago.
In several post-match interviews, coach Desiree Ellis paid tribute to the work done by coaches on the domestic front.
All the players were drawn from the Sasol League, the premier competition for women’s soccer in South Africa.
The South African Football Association (Safa) has not neglected women’s soccer and earlier this year assured that it would pour equal resources into women’s soccer so that it enjoys the same profile as men’s soccer.
Only a handful of players have full-time contracts in the Sasol League, but with more successes like the Cosafa Cup, that could soon change as women’s soccer will hopefully become an attractive option for sponsors.
The coaches Ellis referred to are obviously doing a wonderful job because the players at her disposal showed loads of natural talent.
It was just a matter of the team gelling on the day.
This year just over 300 people enrolled for Safa women’s coaching clinics around the country, and once they graduate it will provide a boost for the development ranks.
Now that Banyana Banyana have conquered southern Africa, the next step will be to conquer Africa, and the team is headed in that direction since Ellis said at the outset of Cosafa: “If you want to conquer Africa, you need to conquer the southern African region first.”
The Star