LISTEN: "You can't just be a coach - you've got to care!" - Coach Desiree Ellis
What was the recipe for Banyana Banyana's success? Togetherness.
The celebration of our South African queens continues and today's guest on Stacey & J Sbu is a woman with an incredible story to tell!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome WAFCON-winning Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis.
In this beautiful interview, Coach Ellis speaks about how looking out for each other - as women - supporting each other and how fighting for each other on the field helped them achieve their goal!
Read more: "Banyana Banyana have single-handedly restored SA's soccer reputation"
Desiree is originally from Cape Town and Stacey wanted to take a trip down memory lane to find out more about Desiree's journey to football.
She was born on the 14th of March 1963.
According to Wikipedia, she grew up in Salt River, a suburb near Cape Town, in the 1970s. For most of her childhood, she stayed at her grandmother's place after school whilst both her parents were at work during the day. After her school day, she would she would drop off her school bag at her grandmother's house, change her clothes and run outside to play with her friends. It's said that her father sometimes threatened to send her to school barefoot because she'd ruin her shoes while playing soccer. (Wikipedia)
So. how did this phenomenal woman fall in love with soccer?
I was six years old and playing with the boys in the school playground. When we got home from school the boys were waiting for us to play on the street with them.
So, what is Coach Desiree's motto for success...
"If you've learnt something, you have a moral obligation to pass it on to someone else. You can't just be a coach - you have to care. To get the best out of the individual, you have to get to know them. As women we don't support each other; we must come together and support the cricket team, the rugby team, and all our teams. If we support each other, others will support us." - Coach Desiree Ellis
Read more: "We didn’t want to disappoint!" - emotional scenes as Banyana Banyana return home
You can listen to the full interview with Coach Ellis and Stacey below:
- football teams at the school level and how to help more girls get access to football
- the impact the win has had on South Africa, especially ahead of Women's Month
- what the win means for the future of Banyana Banyana
- government funding for Banyana Banyana
- what it takes to succeed as a team
- her style of coaching and what she stands for
- woman supporting woman
"As a team, we have always spoken about teamwork and looking out for each other! We take care of each other." - Coach Desiree Ellis
South Africa's very own women's football team was crowned the "queens of the continent" after securing a win at WAFCON (Women's Africa Cup of Nations) 2022.
As reported by ECR Newswatch, Banyana Banyana was also named as the Women’s National Team of the Year over and above being the champions.
Listen more: "When we arrived back in SA we realised how much this means to our country!" - Thina Sonke Mbuli
If there's one thing that we definitely know after this inspiring interview, it's that with the power of togetherness and team members fighting for each other - you can achieve anything!
Love and respect to Coach Ellis and the Banyana Banyana team.
We can't wait to watch them continue to inspire us!
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Main image attribution: Supplied