BANYANA BANYANA’S UDUBS CONNECTIONS

BY MICHELLE LINNERT JANSEN UDUBS CONNECTIONS

EIGHT SEMI-FINALS AND FIVE FINALS. That’s how close our national women’s soccer team, Banyana Banyana, came before beating Morocco and finally lifting the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) trophy in July.

A number of these players got their call-up to the national stage after playing in the blue and gold colours of UWC Ladies’ Football Club. Even more incredibly, no fewer than 11 of E the 23-woman squad in the WAFCON and the assistant head coach have proudly Udubs ties.

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL Banyana team to date featured five current UWC students – Regirl Ngobeni (goalkeeper), Bongeka Gamede (defender), Amogelang Motau (midfielder), Sibulele Holweni (midfielder) and Noxolo Cesane (forward), and six alumni – Kaylin Swart, Nomvula Kgoale, Thalea Smidt, Kholosa Biyana, Thembi Kgatlana and Jermaine Seoposenwe. Banyana’s assistant head coach, Thinasonke Mbuli, is the UWC women’s football team head coach.

WITH MOST OF THE PLAYERS having returned to their normal pursuits of work or studies, we managed to get some of the African champions to describe their inspirational life journeys.

REGIRL MAKHAUKANE NGOBENI was born in Mpumalanga but grew up in Mamelodi in Pretoria. She has two siblings, an elder sister and a younger brother, but was the only one interested in playing sports.

“My dad passed on when I was 15 years old and in Grade 10. Things started changing at home after his death and it really affected us a lot.

“My mom [Khule Masimula] played a huge role in the person that I am today – both in my studies and sports career. She’s been at it as a single parent, and she has done so great. I’m grateful and pray the Lord continues to bless her beautiful heart.”

After matric, Regirl played football at North-West University, graduating with a diploma in Sports Science in 2017. She then completed the one-year Higher Certificate in Economic Development at UWC. Between 2018 and 2021, all the while playing football for UWC, she added a BEd (Foundation Phase).

After her first call-up to the national squad in June 2021, she got her first cap against Mozambique during the WAFCON qualifier in November 2021.

Now based in Kuils River, she spends her work days teaching Grade 1s at Marvin Park Primary School in Macassar while still playing for the UWC Ladies’ Football Club.

BONGEKA “SMA” GAMEDE is from Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal. She says her parents, Buyisile and Mthandeni Gamede, were the driving force behind her sporting success.

“They made sure I pushed myself to do well in both sport and education, and they motivated me at each and every game I played, and still play.”

After primary school, she attended TuksSport High School before undertaking her Tourism Management course at UWC in 2018. She got her first call-up to Banyana Banyana in 2019. Gamede believes her faith helps her to get through life’s challenges, including the injuries players at her level constantly risk. made sure I had all the support I needed,” says Modimolle-born Motau.

Another product of TuksSport High School, she says that’s where she learned to balance playing while studying, which prepared her for university. After enrolling for her BAdmin studies at UWC in 2016, she was called up to play for Banyana for the first time.

“I came to UWC in 2016. I was at Udubs for one-and-a-half years, then I left for the United States in 2017. I played there for two years and came back to South Africa during COVID because of complications – I had injuries when I was that side, and I couldn’t really play for [our] national team when I was in the US because our seasons would always clash.

“When I came back home, my first place of preference was UWC, because I had a degree that I hadn’t finished which I transferred to the US with, so I transferred back my credits and am now doing the final year of my degree.”

She says: “I had to believe one day I will be okay and when I am healed, I will thank the Lord with the talent he has given me by the way I will respect people on and off the field and perform at my best all the time.”

AMOGELANG MOTAU says she doesn’t have a nickname, which is unusual for a South African footballer.

She says: “My mom played a huge role in my sports. When she discovered I love soccer and it was male-dominated, my mom realised I would need support, so she showed up for most of my games and made sure I was on time for trials and had everything I needed – she bought me my first pair of soccer boots and

[From top to bottom], Regirl Makhaukane Ngobeni, Bongeka “Sma” Gamede, Amogelang Motau and Sibulele Cecilia Holweni. SIBULELE CECILIA HOLWENI aka “Msawawa”, is originally from Gqheberha and is yet another TuksSport High School alumna. Aside from completing a Higher Certificate in Economic Development at UWC, one of her proudest early achievements was to have been selected to attend the South African Football Association’s (SAFA) HighPerformance Centre (HPC) in Pretoria.

Proudly Udubs, she says, “UWC has been playing a huge role providing us with education, facilities, training, rehab, and so forth.”

The prodigiously talented Holweni’s national career began playing for the national team in the Under-17 squad in 2016 as junior captain (she was part of the FIFA World Cup Jordan qualifiers). She also made the 2018 Under-17 squad, as captain in the FIFA World Cup against Uruguay.

Among a myriad other awards, including becoming UWC’s Player of the Year, she won the Golden Boot and Player of the Year for 2022. >

NOXOLO CESANE and her twin sister Sinoxolo were raised by their grandmother in Gugulethu in Cape Town after her parents separated when they were very young. Noxolo and her sister fought prejudice to be able to play the game they loved so dearly.

“Gran didn’t like the fact that we played soccer like boys, but she supported it because she saw after we won the Sasol Champions League with Cape Town Roses that we actually can bring something home!”

She says the family didn’t want to buy the twins soccer boots, as that meant they were going to get these brand-new shoes tarnished while playing soccer! But things started changing when the extended family started seeing their talent and supporting them.

“Gogo didn’t support us with her appearance at the fields, but we had so many cousins and sisters and brothers who motivated us and saw the deep love we had for soccer. And they understood this is what we wanted to do with our lives.

“Now they see the results. Gogo is so proud of us now. While attending Fezeka High School the sisters were sponsored to attend the HPC in Pretoria. “We came back to Fezeka after two years.”

Noxolo was enrolled for the Higher Certificate in Economic Development at Fair Share (a unit of the School of Government) at UWC and played for UWC. Her performances for Roses won her selection to Banyana Banyana.

Noxolo left South Africa in September to play club soccer in France, while Sinoxolo plies her trade in the US playing for East Tennessee.

KAYLIN SWART is from Gelvandale in Gqeberha. Her sporty father influenced her interest in sports. Her younger brother used to play football with her “and we were both good cricketers as well. It was tough for me to choose which sport to pursue, but football was always my first love”. Her journey to the national team started after she attended TuksSport High School and the HPC before enrolling to do her BAdmin at UWC in 2013. Now living in Johannesburg where she plays for JVW Football Club, Swart says: “My life philosophy is that when you work hard, nothing can stop you. Every day is a great day to be better!”

NOMVULA KGOALE has been dubbed “Lipstick Lady” for her bright smile and signature red lipstick. Raised in a family of teachers in Matoks in Limpopo, she says they impressed the value of education on her.

“My parents supported my football career and never had any problem with me playing sports, but they also encouraged studying.”

Yet another Banyana player who attended TuksSports High School, she first represented South Africa in 2011 against Mozambique in the Under-17 team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The BCom Law student made her debut for UWC Ladies’ FC in 2014, which led to a long stint in the USA, where she played for the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders team (2014), the Tyler Apaches (2015) and Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (from 2016 to 2018).

After her return, she made her senior debut for Banyana Banyana in 2019 in a 0–3 friendly loss against the US national team.

She currently plays as a defender for the Spanish premier league club CD Parquesol.

THALEA SMIDT from Strandfontein in Cape Town was raised by two UWC alumni. Her dad, Hermanus, is a computer scientist and UWC PhD candidate and her mom, Mildred, has a BEd. Her parents inspired her choice to study a BSc in Biotechnology at UWC, which she completed in 2017.

Smidt’s siblings are equally athletic. Her brother used to play soccer and is a gym instructor and personal trainer while her sister is a junior national swimming champion who represented SA at the CANA Zone IV/V Championships and swims for the Marlin Swimming Club. “I represented the Under-20 national team known as Basetsana in 2015, and my first call-up to Banyana Banyana was also in 2015.

“I recently got called up in February and I’ve been in the team since then. The journey continues,” says Smidt.

She is now based in Johannesburg where she plays full-time for Mamelodi Sundowns women’s team.

Smidt says: “That’s my occupation now. And I also have a start-up in agricultural technology, so I am trying to commit some time into that to get it off the ground as well.”

[From top to bottom], Noxolo Cesane, Kaylin Swart, Nomvula Kgoale and Thalea Smidt.

KHOLOSA MTHIKAZI BIYANA, from Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape, says her father’s commitment to helping her succeed had the biggest impact on her life and career.

“My dad used to take me to training every day when I was at boarding school in Idutywa. So, he would drive an hour from Ngcobo, pick me up, drive 30 more minutes to drop me off at training in Butterworth, wait for me, then back the same way to drop me at boarding school, and drive back home. Then, on weekends he would take me to games in Butterworth.”

Her parents always told her to balance football with her schoolwork. “They always stressed the importance of my studies.’

After attending Mida High School in Idutywa, she completed her degree in Diagnostic Radiography at Durban University of Technology (DUT) before completing an undergraduate degree in Sports Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

She says, “After that, I did my Honours at UWC in Biokinetics in 2020.”

After playing football in Spain for the past two years, Biyana returned to work in her chosen field but is still deeply connected to the world of football.

She says: “Now I’m a qualified radiographer and biokineticist and I do football analysis. I’m also busy with an advanced course in Football Analysis. Other than that, I play football.”

THEMBI “PIKININI” KGATLANA is possibly the most successful of her talented cohort and one of a handful able to boast an international professional career. She grew up in Randfontein in Johannesburg where her parents, Gabriel Matlhomola and Constance Kgatlana, moulded her for success.

“My parents played a huge role in my sporting career. They have been my support and strength. They allowed me to chase my football dreams and to leave home at 16 years old to go to boarding school. This allowed me to study and play football at the same time,” she says.

After being accepted at the HPC, she was chosen to join Banyana Banyana. She studied toward her BA in Tourism at UWC but, between 2015 and 2017, took a break to prepare for the Olympics. She still has one year left to complete her degree.

Currently at home in Johannesburg while in rehabilitation for the Achilles tendon injury that side-lined her at WAFCON 2022, she says philosophically: “I am a professional football player for an American team, Racing Louisville, that plays in the National Women’s Soccer League. Injuries are a part of sports.”

She plans to continue her studies as soon as she has recovered.

THINASONKE MBULI, UWC WOMEN’S FOOTBALL HEAD COACH, was the USSA women’s national team coach from 2016 to 2020 before joining the Banyana Banyana coaching team.

Born in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga, she says her mother wasn’t happy when she started playing football in high school in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. She had hoped Mbuli would become a chartered accountant and was not impressed when Mbuli ended up at DUT.

In an interview on allafrica.com, Mbuli admitted: “My mother didn’t talk to me for three months when I told her I’m going to DUT to study Sports Management. At the time I didn’t know why I wanted to do Sports Management. I wanted to do anything that was sports-related.”

Thanks to that instinctive decision, South African football and UWC have reaped the benefits of one of the most talented women’s football coaches around today. Although her parents have passed, she believes her achievement would have made her late parents and brother proud. B+G

Kholosa Mthikazi Biyana

Thembi “Pikinini” Kgatlana

Thinasonke Mbuli, UWC Women’s Football head coach.