Banyana Banyana boss, Desiree Ellis, has revealed what keeps her motivated to take the national team and women's football to new heights.
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The story
One of the most decorated coaches in women's football, Desiree Ellis, explained how she stays motivated to keep achieving with Banyana Banyana, as well as breaking barriers for the women's game.
The four-time CAF Women's Coach of the Year winner sat down for an interview with Carob Magazine Africa, to speak about her journey in football and all the obstacles she had to overcome as both a player and coach.
What asked what keeps her motivated to take Banyana Banyana and women's football to new heights, she answered:
"I work with a fantastic group of players and an amazing stuff in the background. We all have this shared vision to raise the profile of women's football and also to do well and to create opportunities for women in sport," said Ellis, who was conferred with an honourary doctorate by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology this year for her contributions to growing the women's game.
"When we get together as a group we always decide what is the ambition and it always has to be one shared ambition. I think that is why we did so well in the WAFCON in 2022, we were really truly connected…We had every intention to do well," she added.
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Despite missing out on qualification for the Paris Summer Olympic Games this year, Ellis' achievements with Banyana Banyana in recent years cannot be understated.
From winning the 2022 Women's AFCON in Morocco and making history at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, by becoming the first South African senior national football team to progress to the knockout rounds of a global showpiece as major as the World Cup, Ellis views her gig with Banyana as more than just a job:
"Coaching the national women's team is not just a job for me, I love the people, I love the players. It's a tough job because through that love you got to show that it's not all about fun but also hard work and getting results! I am soft natured at heart but if the situation requires me to be tough, I have to be.
"As the Banyana Banyana team we share a common goal and a common vision. Yes a few of us will be awarded and rewarded but it is never about one individual but it is always about the team, without the team we are not awarded and rewarded so I think those are just bonuses.
"Everything we do, we do it for everybody involved in women's football, those that have come before us, for those that have laid a foundation but didn't get the opportunities. We push ourselves to do well so that we can raise the profile of women in football, attract sponsorship and grow women's football," concluded Ellis.
