New Banyana coach for a new era?

BANYANA BANYANA, South Africa’s national women’s football team, needs a head coach and assistants have to be appointed.

Banyana’s first woman coach was a foreigner, Dutch coach Vera Pauw. She resigned after the team’s 2016 Rio Olympics participation.

Safa hasn’t made any attempts to ask Pauw to reconsider and stay. Who will Safa appoint?

Should a caretaker coach be appointed in the interim to guide Banyana through participation in CAF’s African women’s football championship, or should a permanent full-time head coach be appointed for a new era to kick off ?

Let’s take our cue from champions. 2016 Olympic champions Germany wasted no time in announcing their head coach soon after winning the gold medal at the Rio Olympics. Does gender and colour matter? Should Banyana’s head coach be a woman or a man, black or white?

Safa took the correct and bold decision to appoint the first woman coach for Banyana when they appointed Pauw. Let this continue – a woman coaching the national women’s team. Safa must not only develop, encourage and support women coaches in football, they must also show confidence in women football coaches and appoint them. Who should this coach be? Does it matter that she is South African, African or a foreign coach?

Women

Yes, it does matter. While foreign coaches may be very experienced, Safa has got to start believing in homegrown women football coaches. Our women football coaches have played the game, done the coaching courses, got the coaching certificate and are waiting patiently in the wings.

Now they must be supported and valued. In an earlier opinion article, in trying to get some thought going on Banyana’s next coach, I put out the name of Safa’s first woman coach, Sheryl Botes.

It appears that Botes is not in the running for the Banyana appointment. Her tenure at Safa’s high-performance youth training centre, coaching girls and young women footballers at an expense of R6 million a year, has not yielded the desired results.

Many are questioning Botes’s abilities and capabilities, given that she had resources and a full-time appointment, but couldn’t get SA to the U17 girls’ and U20 women’s World Cups.

What about Desirée Ellis, Banyana’s assistant coach under coach Pauw? In a news report by award-winning journalist Busisiwe Mokwena, it was pointed out “some Banyana players were happy to see Pauw resign as Banyana coach”.

The article went on to say that Banyana players “didn’t think Desirée Ellis should be appointed Banyana head coach”.

In starting a new era for Banyana, Safa has to guard against retaining those “who were part of the Banyana mess”, says an official within Safa.

Will the players be satisfied with the appointment of Ellis as Banyana coach? Only time will indicate.

Roberts is a sports activist, publisher and writer

Braun used a rocket identical to Knievel’s X2 Skycycle – the trick was correct deployment of the parachute. Evel Knievel’s real name was Robert Craig Knievel.

When he was locked up one night in 1956, charged with reckless driving of his motorcycle, he was placed in the cell next to a fellow named Knofel, who was known by the cops as Awful Knofel.

Next thing Robert Knievel was Evel Knievel, and he stuck to the name throughout his spectacular stuntman career. He chose the spelling because he didn’t want to be known as “evil”.

Evel Knievel, Awful Knofel – gone but not forgotten.

Tailpiece

VAN der Merwe is engaged in a major custody battle. His wife doesn’t want him and his mother won’t take him back.

Last word

SPEAK when you are angry – and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret. – Laurence J Peter