By Lukanyo Tshitshi
The four-time African Coach of the year and the Head coach of Banyana Banyana, Desiree Ellis, image credit: GETTY IMAGES.
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) will award the Cape Town-born prestigious sportswoman and current Banyana Banyana Head Coach, Desiree Ellis, with an Honorary Doctorate in Sports Management.
Ellis, who hails from Cape Town in Salt River, has emerged as the most successful Banyana Banyana Head coach and an influential woman in South African sports, having played in bigger stages, represented South Africa as a Banyana Banyana player, guided South Africa’s women's national team to its first WAFCON title, and recently led Banyana Banyana to become the first South African national team to reach the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup.
The university's Head of the Sports Management Department, Professor Simeon Davies, announced that the university will honour the four-time African Coach of the Year - Ellis - and said that she is someone that CPUT students can look up to.
"She [Ellis] epitomises women in sport participation, leadership, and business, and she is a positive role model for all future CPUT graduates and especially Sport Management graduates,” said Prof. Davies.
Reacting to the news, the four-time African coach of the year was amazed, and she said, "I am really excited, and the fact that it’s in my home city makes it more special as my family can attend this special occasion and celebrate with me."
"A big thank [you] to CPUT for honouring me. Please continue to create opportunities for other women and celebrate them and their achievements. continue to support and raise the profile of women," she added.
Ellis will be officially honored on April 25 in CPUT's autumn graduation ceremony to be held at Bellville Campus.
Ellis's burst onto the scene.
The young Banyana Banyana's most successful Head coach, Desiree Ellis. image credit: BBC sports.
Ellis's career reportably started in Cape Town in the 1970s, during the apartheid era in South Africa. She played for a local ladies football team, Athlone Celtic, as a midfielder while working as a spice mixer in a local butchery.
Taking part in sports at a time in a country when women were sidelined from participating in sports, Ellis strived and thrived. She later formed part of the 1993 South African women's national team that was 14-0 victorious over Swaziland in their first international contest. She scored a hattrick in that contest, which was her international debut.
She went on to captain South Africa's ladies team in the 2000 African Women's Championship held in South Africa, where they finished as runners-up.
Two years later, in 2002, the Cape Town-born midfielder hanged her boots at the age of 38.
Glancing on Ellis' remarkable career, Davies said, “Through hard work, persistence, and her exceptional high standards, Desiree Ellis has become a hero to many South Africans, and because of her challenged upbringing, she especially relates to and inspires so many women in our disadvantaged communities.”
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