Banyana's success has been stirring — it is not guaranteed to last

TimesLIVE

4 days ago

There are concerns that Banyana Banyana's successes of the last half-decade were a high point and the women's national team might battle to replicate such achievements in the near future.
Their fourth placing at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco this month could be seen partly as a sign of a team in transition as new talent is blooded by coach Desiree Ellis and a hugely successful older generation begins steps towards its exit.
It can also be read as a warning that a slow decline might be coming all too soon after the generation led by stars such as Thembi Kgatlana, Refiloe Jane, Hildah Magaia, Jermaine Seoposenwe took Banyana to their first Wafcon triumph, also in Morocco, in 2022 and notched the first progression past a World Cup group stage by a South African senior team in 2023.
A fourth placing is no disgrace — defending a title can be difficult and women's football globally is improving in strides each year. It's the talent pipeline and factors affecting it that raise concern.
There were some good young players fielded by Banyana in Morocco this month, products of Ellis' injection of talent over recent years, aware her senior stars will be moving on soon. Among emerging stars were Ronnel Donnelly, Tiisetso Makhubela, Amogelang Motau and Karabo Dhlamini. But there is a concern the new talent pool does not quite have the depth and genuine star quality of the one it is succeeding.
[WATCH] Banyana Banyana have returned home from Morocco following a disappointing stint at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations. pic.twitter.com/sFvn3ESvZg
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Former Banyana coach Fran Hilton-Smith, the South African Football Association's former assistant and women's technical director who left those posts in 2021, and arguably the largest individual influence on the growth and success of Banyana, worries about these issues.
Among these are that, while the launch from 2019 of the national women's Hollywoodbets Super League has been a notable positive development, it remains far from ideal and needs especially smaller teams to obtain sponsorships and for more players to be at least semi-professional.
The women's academy established by Hilton-Smith at the high performance centre (HPC) at Pretoria University reduced its yearly intake for cost-cutting purposes when she left Safa.
Then of course there is the bombshell ending of the hugely influential 16-year sponsorship of Banyana by Sasol. Safa has admitted it is battling to pull major sponsorships outside Banyana and Bafana Bafana, and serious questions are being raised about how the beleaguered association can find financial backers with embattled president Danny Jordaan at the helm while facing fraud charges.
'I think there needs to be introspection and rebuilding or restructuring for the Wafcon next year which is a World Cup qualifier,' Hilton-Smith told TimesLIVE Premium.
'The Hollywoodbets league and to some extent the Sasol [second tier] need some attention.'
No cheers. No welcome. Just cameras and questions.
Banyana deserved more than silence.
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There are some sponsored and well-funded sides in the Super League, such as the successful Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies, TS Galaxy and university teams that use their good institutional resources and well-run sides like high-punching JVW.
'But there's a big gap between the teams that are sponsored and structured and the others,' Hilton-Smith said. 'My point is we need to improve the level of competition [among the lower sides] to ensure the players who come through to Banyana are playing at a competitive level not far from the players based overseas. You need to have a balanced national team. We need to ensure the feeder system to Banyana is of a high standard.
'Even Sundowns, with their good coaching and structures, who pay players a decent amount and, like the men's team, have had continental success and provide the backbone of the national team, can be problematic. Like in men's football, Sundowns Ladies can hoover up top talent and then good players get benched.'
Teams like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have partnered with women's amateur sides, which feels like window dressing for the purposes of meeting Confederation of African Football requirements. so the men's teams can compete continentally. If those giants had dedicated women's teams that would also improve the standard in the Super League.
Hilton-Smith is also 'not sure how many senior players will be available for Banyana next year'. This especially since disillusion among senior stars continue to grow given their treatment by Safa. There were player strikes over bonuses and conditions ahead of the 2023 World Cup and, inexcusably given they were defending champions for the past Wafcon.
Senior stars' body language and messages given between the lines of their actions and statements indicate they are fed up with flying the flag, at huge effort, then facing such lack of backing. Thembi Kgatlana withdrew from the Wafcon squad for personal reasons and was notably missed in Morocco. Jermaine Seoposenwe announced she intended to retire from the national side after the tournament.
Hilton-Smith is concerned Safa has scaled back the academy at Tuks' HPS.
'Of the team that won Wafcon, 14 came from my high performance and 15 from the [2023] World Cup squad.
'Since I was retired, the intake at the HPC hasn't been at full capacity.'
Hilton-Smith said she understands that the withdrawal of Sasol, also sponsors of the 144-team nationwide amateur effective second tier of women's club football, as Banyana sponsors is still not completely certain, and could be reversed if Safa meet 'certain conditions'.
'We can't lose Sasol if they decide to pull out because they've been the lifeblood of Banyana, without a doubt, and the league and the history. They have a branch in the US and it's because of that and the funding that Banyana played the US [the world's No 1 US team] in America more than once.
'That's where we need to be. So we hope they will reconsider.'