The odds were always stacked against Banyana
If we are not serious about women’s football, then why send Banyana to the Olympics?
After watching our national football teams’ campaigns at the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio, I have come to realise that we South Africans – particularly in the sports fraternity – are more are reactive than proactive.
We ignore a problem; let it manifest and then only take steps towards resolving that very same problem afterwards.
On August 3, I watched Banyana Banyana’s first match against Sweden and I was slightly disappointed by that clumsy goal we conceded to suffer our first loss.
I nevertheless had hope that they would improve in their second fixture against China five days later and therefore stayed up once again to watch our football ladies restore our pride. Another careless defensive blunder saw us march off the field with a 1-0 loss, subsequently condemning us to statistical permutations, which in the end work against us most of the time in all our national football teams.
I didn’t bother staying up for the fixture against Brazil. For me it was clear that Banyana Banyana were out of the competition and would therefore be returning home.
Going back to the loss to China, I recall Banyana Banyana coach, Vera Pauw, subsequently stating that her team’s failure to perform was due to the lack of a professional female football league in this country.
For the record, I hate excuses. That is exactly why I often find myself on Shakes Mashaba’s case regarding Bafana Bafana.
Although it sounds like Pauw was also shifting the blame to some other dynamics in SA football, I however, concur with her sentiments.
Our football ladies do not tick all the boxes required for us to classify them as professional footballers. They were able to stand their ground for some time in all their fixtures, but their tactical ineptness was eventually exposed.
The system that moulds them, the SASOL League to be precise, is definitely far from being professional. Only a few of them, like Stephanie Malherbe or Jermaine Seoposengwe play in proper leagues in the US or elsewhere. Others play locally, in a “league” where they are coached by amateurs and play against other ladies who can hardly kick a ball or execute any other football basic.
Going into the semi-finals of the ladies division, pay special attention to how the Germans, Brazilians or American ladies move the ball around; look at their posture, the way they kick the ball and how they maintain their formations.
They are professional to the core and many would agree that some of them could actually survive in the PSL in a hypothetical sense. This is because they play in well-structured leagues.
Pauw’s cry for a professional league has been heard and the topic is being entertained on many football debating platforms as we speak.
What will imminently disappoint me is that Pauw’s call will fall on deaf ears. Football administrators at SAFA or the PSL will ultimately do nothing about this issue and yet carry on sending a weak national team to the Olympic Games to get humiliated in front of the world.
We need a professional women’s football league in this country – there is no doubt about that. We need a platform were out ladies can focus solely on football and make careers out of the sport. Failure to do so is the same as setting them up to fail in international competitions.
If we do not take women’s football seriously, then why send them to the Olympics or even attempt to qualify for FIFA World Cup events?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to send excelling individual athletes from other sporting codes to these international events?
My plea this women’s month is for our football authorities to work towards making the means to create a platform for our women to develop and grow as professionals. The only solution in this regard is creating that league that will not only make sure that they are able to sustain their passion but also help them compete effectively on the world stage.
