Date: 22 July 2021
The South African senior Women’s National Team missed out on qualification for the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics where Zambia’s Copper Queens are the only African representatives at the global showpiece.
Banyana Banyana were present at the previous Olympics in London 2012 and Rio 2016, and current captain Janine Van Wyk has shared what it meant to represent South Africa at the games.
Van Wyk started her football journey in a boys’ team – as is the case with many female footballers in South Africa. She shares the beginning of her journey, saying; “I started playing football from the age of five when I joined a football club with my cousin while being the only girl in the club. Football runs in my family as my grandfather and uncles played the game professionally. One of the biggest challenges for a female footballer back then was the fact that there were very limited opportunities. There was also the issue of the game being made uncomfortable for a female player as you were considered to be playing a ‘boys’ sport’.”
It is undoubtedly every player’s dream to represent your national team, a dream which Van Wyk turned into a reality when she represented South Africa at junior level. However, that first senior call up is always one to remember and the Banyana skipper remembers hers quite clearly. “It was in 2005 when I received my first Banyana call up. I was nervous and ecstatic at the same time. All I know is that I was part of the High Performance Centre team in Pretoria that represented the U19 national women’s team.
I was there when they announced that myself and a few others were called to the senior team. It was an unbelievable feeling. I had worked hard for it and always wanted to be the top performer at training just so I could catch the eye of the coaches. I guess I did that well enough.” It is clear she most certainly caught the eye of the coaches as she has since gone on to be the highest capped Banyana player with 170* caps.
The Olympic dream became a reality in 2012 when Team South Africa qualified for their first ever Women’s Football appearance at the games – an achievement that came after a gruelling tussle for that spot against Ethiopia. “I remember we were in Ethiopia at the time we qualified. Traveling in Africa is not an easy task. Especially if you you’re going to compete. I remember our kit bag with our playing kit went missing as we arrived. Luckily we were asked to carry our playing jerseys in our own bags, so the manager had to go buy shorts and socks for us. The playing conditions were muddy and we needed a draw to qualify. Ethiopia scored first and Mpumi Nyandeni equalised for us – and we qualified for our first ever Olympic games.”
Qualifying for the games is one thing, making your mark at the tournament is another thing altogether. The South Africans came back having lost all their group games leading to an immediate return for the debutants – dejection that Van Wyk certainly expressed as she shared her experience. “We weren’t happy with the results of course. It’s never acceptable to lose all games in such a major tournament – but we also knew it was our very first major international tournament and we competed the best we could.”
Fast forward four years later to the Rio 2016 Olympics, Banyana had made an improvement from their maiden pointless appearance at the games, to snatching a point against a high ranked Marta-led Brazil side. “Rio was very different to London as we had more time to prepare and were generally better prepared as we managed to play competitive friendlies against strong opposition in the build up. Again, we failed to win any of our matches but we managed to draw against the hosts and top-ranked Brazil in front of their home crowd. We gained loads of respect after some gutsy performances,” the skipper added.
While the experiences on the field are of primary importance, being at a global showpiece and not creating any memories off the pitch, particularly at the Olympic Village can somewhat leave a sour taste in one’s mouth. “I remember in 2012 all the players were disappointed that we couldn’t experience staying at the village where all the fun happens and things such as drinks, food, hair salons and cool games were available for free.
In 2016 we were all excited that we were staying in the village but it got us distracted because of all that was going on in there. All the athletes received brand new Samsung Galaxy phones and I remember some players were late to make their bus for training as they were waiting to get their phones,” added a chuckling Van Wyk. Who’d want to miss a free phone anyway? Certainly not me.
It’s extremely unfortunate and disappointing that Banyana Banyana missed out on the Tokyo Olympics having ended as runners up at the last African Women’s Cup of Nation (AWCON) as the captain feels it is “embarrassing” that they miss out and feels they “should be there.”
Article By: Thulani Mkosi
Mkosi Media Connection 