Ellis has done it the hard way
Now the Banyana coach is hoping to make waves in women’s Afcon in Ghana.
From being held at knifepoint, to losing her job and spending much of her time away from family, such has been the life of Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis, whose passion for football rises above all else.
One of the first senior national team players, Ellis was 30 years old when she was called up to the South African women’s squad after progressing through trials in 1993.
They faced Swaziland in their maiden international game, and it was a remarkable day for Ellis and her Banyana teammates, who were back then called Bafazi Bafazi. They won 14-0 and Ellis netted a hat-trick on her debut.
“It was the first Banyana Banyana team and I remember Nelson Mandela had just been released from prison,” Ellis recalls.
“We were called Bafazi Bafazi, and Khabo Zitha was like, ‘no, we have to change our name’.
“We had players such as Khabo, Maud Khumalo, Sibongile Khumalo, Fikile Sithole and Joann Solomons, and we are all still big buddies.”
Ellis was promoted to captain of the SA team in 2000, but her commitment to football proved costly in other facets of her life.
“I remember I lost my job this other time after coming back from a game. We had a flat tyre I reported to work late,” she says.
“I didn’t have a job for three years, but then something came up. I got a job at a football magazine and I would type fan mails and get paid R5 a letter.
“I then got a job at Touchline Media, where I worked for 10 years as a photo editor, but during the 2010 Fifa World Cup I was chosen as one of the ambassadors and I had to resign.”
After the World Cup she was unsure how to make ends meet, with multiple payments remaining on her car loan.
“I had an opportunity to do my Uefa-B (coaching) licence in the Netherlands, but I didn’t have a full-time job and decided not to go,” she says.
“I had to make that sacrifice, but I always say the sacrifices of today are the successes of tomorrow.”
Born in Cape Town, Ellis landed up in Hanover Park, one of the Mother City’s most notorious townships where gangs and substance abuse are rife.
Sharing memories of some harrowing incidents, she recalls being threatened by a potential attacker with a knife outside her family’s house and once being followed on her way to a training session.
She still returns home, however, when she is on a break from her job, and remains an inspiration to young kids in Hanover Park.
After serving in an interim role for 18 months, Ellis was unveiled as the official Banyana coach in February, and she acknowledges that football continues to take precedence in her life.
Her family, however, has always been supportive and family members have made their own sacrifices to assist her progress.
“My mom lives in Cape Town. I have a brother and two sisters and one of them lives in Australia,” she says.
“My mom, sister and niece are visiting her at the beginning of December and they are all excited about it. They know why I’m away from home and I am just a phone call away, but they have been very supportive and they know I live for football.”
In all her time as a player and a coach, Ellis has witnessed the evolution of the women’s game.
The national team plays more often these days, and Ellis feels they have better opportunities.
The squad held multiple camps in preparation for the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations. They departed for Ghana two weeks before the tournament and managed to secure a friendly match against the hosts ahead of their opening game against arch-rivals Nigeria, to be played in Cape Coast tomorrow.
“We went to Ghana early and that’s all thanks to the sponsors. We have been able to hold many camps,” Ellis says.
“When you don’t have the players in camp often you don’t get them to a certain level, and the thing we struggle with most is the physical condition because, with all due respect, some clubs lack resources and train only twice a week.
“But we are ready for the game against Nigeria and I am sure it will be very interesting.”