A journey of self-discovery has made Dlamini more than a Banyana leader
SASOLBURG: In Banyana Banyana’s history, Desiree Ellis was the inspirational captain while Portia Modise was a goal-scoring machine who became the first African to score 100 goals in national team colours.
But no one has had a bigger impact on the women’s game in this country than Amanda Dlamini. It goes beyond her captaining Banyana to their first Olympic appearance, in 2012, or even the fact that she has been in the senior women’s team for close to a decade. Dlamini is a brand. That’s why Jockey chose her as their ambassador, Nike supply her with apparel, while SuperSport roped her in as an analyst.
“Playing for Banyana Banyana has changed many things in my life,” Dlamini said. “It has made me to be a brand and a household name.
“I know that I am too humble to say those things out loud, but that’s what I have been able to achieve through Banyana Banyana. It has opened many doors for my career, which as a little girl growing up in Harding, I never thought I would reach. It has also made me grow and even improve on my low self-esteem.
“That had to change when the technical team came and told me that I would captain the team. I was surprised, but took the challenge and flew with it.”
Dlamini will lead the side in Rio de Janeiro next year in her second successive Olympic appearance. She might not have the arm-band, which she forfeited to Janine van Wyk in order to focus on her studies and her game, but Dlamini is one of the national outfit’s leaders, a player who fellow teammates listen to when she talks. Her carefree manner is one of her biggest assets.
That’s the attitude that has made many South Africans fall in love with her, to a point that when she attended a family bereavement last week there were neighbours who came to take pictures with her.
They didn’t do it out of disrespect of the occasion, but because of how much they love her and the fact they wanted to make the most of her rare public appearance back at her home in Kwa-Machi.
“I don’t even go to the mall when I am back home because people will storm me,” Dlamini said. “I appreciate the love and the support that they give me. It always overwhelms me. It’s that love and the respect my teammates give me that keeps me going.
“It’s through that journey that I managed to get over my low selfesteem. When I was told that I would captain the team, they were very strategic about it. They made it out to be something small.
“They told me I just have to relay information from the technical team to the players and vice versa. But it ended up being a journey of self-discovery where I saw what I was capable of. I found myself.”
The journey of discovery for Dlamini started more than a decade ago when she took the two-hour bus ride to Durban where she played in an all-girls team, Durban Ladies, for the first time.
Before that, she had endured countless beatings from her mother for returning home from training 30 minutes after her curfew.
That’s just one of the many hurdles she had to overcome to be where she is today. Now, she is looking to produce the next Amanda Dlamini through the numerous coaching clinics she holds throughout the country.
“The look in their faces when they see us, it’s priceless. Seeing it warms my heart,” Dlamini said.