Women’s football in South Africa is in a position of unprecedented strength and statistics show that 2020 will go down as a landmark year despite the premature end to the Covid-19-affected season.
Delegates at the recent Extraordinary Meeting of the South African Football Association (Safa) national executive committee (NEC) in Johannesburg were presented with statistics compiled by BMi-Sport Info (Pty) Ltd.
BMi is a South African independent research company which focuses exclusively on sport and was engaged by Safa to provide statistics of its membership and activities related to training of officials and administrators.
At the start of 2020, Safa’s female registered membership stood at 400 000 which makes it the second biggest female sport in the country behind netball which has just over two million registered players.
Presently a record 20 SA players are plying their trade in foreign women’s leagues and that points to the growth of individual players.
Many have come through the country’s systems, which have been an integral part of Safa’s Vision 2022, a plan launched in 2014. The plan targets the fundamental rebuilding of structures at all levels to create the conditions to bring about international success for the national teams.
Women have had increased participation in the governance of local football. On the regional front, two women hold the positions of presidents, and a total of 52 serve as vice-presidents.
In Local Football Association (LFA) circles, a whopping 341 women serve in various administrative capacities. At NEC level, there are five women officials.
One statistic that Safa can be proud of is that presently all the women’s national teams have female head coaches. This is rare for any of the major SA sports codes. Rugby and cricket, for example, have a few female national teams that have male head coaches.
Safa is also moving toward a situation where all women’s matches will be handled by women officials. There are 270 registered women referees and given the number of women participating in training courses, this number could pass the 350-mark by the end of the year.
Safa president Danny Jordaan said it was heart-warming to see the surge in popularity of women’s football.
“We now have these statistics and it is amazing when one considers that all this was achieved from an almost zero base,” said Jordaan.
“The federation has diligently engaged stakeholders to ensure that national football take steps to empower girls and women in all facets of the sport. We must ensure opportunities for further growth and harness its potential for development.
“So much of what we have achieved has been because of working around Vision 2022. This has helped chart the way forward.
“We set out to provide equal opportunity for women and in doing so, we strengthen governance structures. We do not condone gender discrimination.
“Our technical staff have tried to build women’s teams in equal measure as men’s teams.
“We are constantly reviewing our efforts to present vibrant grassroots women’s football programmes.
“We also have structures to train women administrators, referees and coaches.”
Jordaan said women’s soccer has also been digitally engaged on MySAFA, a competition management system which ensures amateur football is more transparent, free of cheating and organised.
“There has been a steadily rising fan base of women’s football followers and MySAFA has an important role to play,” said Jordaan.
World football body Fifa recently confirmed that MySAFA is in elite company in the field of player registration systems.
According to FifaA, MySAFA ranks 15th globally and No 1 in Africa in terms of total stakeholders registered. MySAFA has issued over 320 000 Fifa IDs.
South Africa has a world ranking of 53 in world football and No 3 in Africa behind Nigeria (38) and Cameroon (51).
There will be another option for the national women’s team, popularly known as Banyana Banyana, to improve their ranking in the light of the recent CAF (Confederation of African Football) announcement that it will stage a Women’s Champions League in 2021.
This will pit local women’s clubs against the continent’s best and it will be of great benefit for the national team.
Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis said the Champions League will be a shot in the arm for women’s football. Mamelodi Sundowns, the women’s club champions, will represent South Africa in the inaugural event next year.
“This will help our national team to go from strength to strength and I wish champions Mamelodi Sundowns all the success,” said Ellis.
Sundowns will become the first SA club to participate in both the male and female versions of the CAF Club Champions League.
Safa’s Women’s Football Committee chairwoman Emma Hendricks echoed Ellis’ sentiments.
“This is a huge boost for women’s football in general and I believe this will make our national team more competitive,” said Hendricks.
Another interesting statistic has come to light which also does SA women’s football proud. Many former and current Banyana Banyana players have done well in terms of preparing for life after football.
Some have already completed degree and diploma courses at SA and American universities and several more are enrolled at tertiary institutions locally and abroad.
There are several impressive case studies. Goalkeeper Kaylin Swart who made her Banyana Banyana debut in 2016 has attained a bachelor’s degree in business and management in sports management from California, US.
Another goalkeeper, Roxanne Barker, who has been capped 28 times for the national team, has a BSc degree in biology, obtained at the Pepperdine University, California, US.
Defender Koketso Tlailane is literally a work in progress as she continues to rack up qualifications at the Tshwane University of Technology. She has already acquired a National Diploma in sports management, a BTech degree in sports management, a National Diploma in civil engineering and is currently studying for a BTech degree in civil engineering.
This is one area where the women footballers have certainly upstaged their male counterparts.