Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

South Africa

South Africa, Sport, DM168

Banyana coach Ellis gives young players a taste of the big time

Banyana coach Ellis gives young players a taste of the big time
Desiree Ellis, head coach of South Africa, during the international women’s friendly match between South Africa and Lesotho at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus on 22 February. Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
Yanga Sibembe
By Yanga Sibembe
2 Mar 2025
Facebook
0
Friendly matches against Lesotho served as auditions for the youngsters before the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in July.

One of the toughest tasks for a national team coach is to revitalise your team constantly to keep it competitive. Expanding the group you work with can be beneficial when senior players are unavailable to represent the country.

For example, South Africa lost Thembi Kgatlana (one of their most important players) to injury on the way to winning the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), but other players stepped up and filled that huge void.

So, that was the thinking of Desiree Ellis, the coach of the South African senior women’s side, when she and her technical team chose a young and inexperienced group of players to don the Banyana Banyana jersey for two friendlies against Lesotho.

Although the South Africans beat their neighbours 1-0 and 2-0 respectively in the two friendlies played on the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus on 22 and 25 February, it was evident that the players were not accustomed to the demands of senior national team duty.

Change of pace


They performed at intervals, with some being particularly patchy. Ellis said that despite the patience she had to exercise with the new group of players – who had no seniors to guide them throughout the process – she was generally happy with what she had seen, especially as the domestic league was yet to start when the matches were played.  

“For many of these players, two games in quick succession like this, they’re not used to that. And it being in pre-season [added to the pressure]. So, we’re also trying to assist where we can,” Ellis told journalists.

“There were some good moments, especially when we moved the ball around and our movement off the ball. But there were also not-so-good moments, especially when we started running with the ball,” the former Banyana star added.

“As you saw from the bench, we encouraged them to put the ball down, but the excitement of youth means they want to run with the ball. But they learnt quickly at this level that you cannot just run with the ball, you need to play the ball around.”

The Hollywoodbets Super League is a semiprofessional South African national women’s league that was formed in 2019. Despite administrative hitches along the way, the league has generally been invaluable and increased the pool of the players available to Ellis and her technical team. It has also increased the quality and competitiveness in the national team.

Banyana Ellis South Africa coach Desiree Ellis at the international friendly against Lesotho on the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus on 22 February 2025. (Photo: Daniel Hlongwane / Gallo Images)


Taste of the big time


However, Ellis has constantly indicated that the league is still far from closing the gap in terms of its standing and the requirements of international standards, a problem that she has to deal with every time she hands locally based players an opportunity in her team.

Like a number of female athletes playing team sports in South Africa, many players in the Super League are still forced to juggle school and/or work and playing soccer.

“When you play in the Hollywoodbets Super League, you can get away with that. But when you play here [it can be a liability],” Ellis said of the players having to adjust to the Banyana-level demands.

“So, these things take time. I mean, we had a week, and sometimes it takes months for people to get used to the way we play and to understand it,” Ellis said.

“But I’m happy with the outing and happy with the opportunities that we’ve given these players, because that’s what this exercise was all about.

“When we spoke to the players, the first thing they said is that it is tough [at this level]… They said the intensity is high,” she added.

“So, we wanted to give them a taste of what it is to be in the national team, so that if and when they do come back, it’s not a shock. They’ll know now that they need to go back and work harder. They know that when the more experienced players come in, the level is going to be even higher.”

Standout performers


Despite the team’s performances being far from fluid, the coach called for patience.

Certainly, on both match days the players received various kinds of attention from the diverse crowds in Soweto. For example, JVW Blue Diamonds’ teenage defender Bonolo Mokoma was occasionally heckled by fans for some mistakes during the first game of the double-header.

Nevertheless, she kept her head up and continued playing to the best of her ability.

In contrast, her club teammate and striker Tanna Hollis received a standing ovation from the Soweto crowd when she was substituted during the second half of the final match, after a stellar performance.

Someone like University of Western Cape defender Unathi Simayile would have caught the eye as well. In both matches she started as a centre back, but moved to central midfield in the second half. Simayile even went as far as scoring in the second match.

“Make no mistake, there’s huge potential there,” said Ellis about the group’s overall display. “Because we’re not only preparing for now. It was about making the group bigger more than anything, because we’ve also had a lot of injuries.

“So, we need to make sure that we have players to fill those gaps. That’s what this exercise did for us.

“From what we did during this camp, they  [the inexperienced players] can now look at the game differently. They can now look at themselves differently and say, ‘This is where I need to improve.’

“So, it was very important that we bring them in,” Ellis added.

Banyana will next be in action during the March-April international window, with their opponents yet to be confirmed as the African champions prepare for their title defence in July. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

Categories:

Tags: