Born in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga, Thinasonke Mbuli has always wanted to be in a football.
She moved to KwaZulu Natal at a very young age and spend 23 years of her life in that province – and the is where the love of the game grew. Mbuli played in the USSA [University Sports South Africa] national team (which she also coached), and for Durban Ladies and Sunflower.
The quite Mbuli was the head coach of the University of KwaZulu-Natal women’s football team from 2016 to 2019. She has also served as the coach of her alma mater – Durban University of Technology – where she obtained her degree is sports management.
In 2019 she had to relocate again – this time packing her bags to the Mother City to start a new life as head coach of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) women’s football team.
On the national team front, her light kept on shining as she was also the assistant coach at Banyana Banyana – she was part of the squad that finished second in Ghana in the 2018 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), qualified the team for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup – South Africa’s maiden global tournament.
In July this year, together with head coach Desiree Ellis and the Banyana Banyana technical team, they plotted the downfall of hosts Morocco in the final to win their first ever WAFCON after several attempts by the South African Senior Women’s National Team.
And in the process, they also booked their ticket to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
That success continued to follow her in the Hollywoodbets Super League, where she is working with a bunch of students hungry for glory.
The gains from Morocco were evident on the league front as she led the Blues to second place following a tough battle against a strong Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) – with the position only decided on the final day of the league season.
This was a great achievement after finishing sixth in a 12-team SAFA Women’s League in the 2019/20, before clinching third position the following season after the competition was expanded to 14 clubs.
Her record in 2022 speaks volumes.
UWC and TUT are the only teams to snatch three points each from the Hollywoodbets Super League champion, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies.
The Capetonians managed 10 home and away wins respectively.
Ma-Indies (1-0) and TUT (3-1) are the only sides to register victories against UWC this season.
Mbuli’s side shared the spoils on eight occasions – same number as the third-placed TUT.
Although they got the job done, they were not so prolific in front of goals – scoring 55, placing them seventh on the list of the best finishers:
- Sundowns Ladies 126
- JVW 82
- TUT 75
- Richmond United 63
- UJ Ladies 59
- UWC 55
It was in defence where they matched reigning champions – both teams conceded a low 13 goals.
This year alone, they collected six points each from eight teams:
- Durban Ladies
- Golden Ladies (relegated)
- Vasco da Gama
- Ma-Indies
- Richmond United
- Tsunami Queens (relegated)
- UJ Ladies
- City Lads Ladies
UWC stuttered at the beginning of the season, but found their feet as they league progressed.
They then hit turbulence as they played six draws in a row at the beginning of the second round. When they did turn the corner, they registered nine consecutive wins without conceding a goal, which saw them win the much-publicized battle for the second spot against TUT.
CentreCircle.online caught up with Thinasonke Mbuli, who was already busy with preparations for the upcoming USSA Games in Secunda.
Coach congratulations on your second position finish. How are you feeling?
Our aim was to do better than the previous season, so yes, I’m happy we finished a position better than 2021.
At the beginning of the season, did you think this was possible – looking also at the quality of the teams in the league?
To be honest we wanted to challenge for the championship, and we knew for us to do that we must beat Sundowns Ladies and not lose other games. But we then dropped points where we were not supposed to, especially at the beginning of the second round.
Sixth in 2019/20;third in 2021; second in 2022 – that’s great progression – what would you attribute that to?
We still have 80% of the players we started with in 2019. We then had to look at the areas where we were lacking and we made few good signings, I think that’s why there’s progress. We spend a lot of time training (3 or 4 times a week). We also have a good support staff (Medical team and High Performance department) so there’s a lot of people working behind the scenes to make sure that there’s progress.
And based on the above, can we see UWC challenging for the title next season?
It won’t be easy, but that’s definitely the goal, so we must reinforce the team. The good thing is that we know what we must improve.
What needs to be done to stop the domination that Sundowns Ladies enjoy?
Besides the fact that they have quality players, and I honestly think we also have a good team – the fact remains: It’s tough to balance academics and football. For us players still have to worry about school work as they are here to STUDY first and play football after. Our core business is Education (remember we are a University Team) – so it will always be tough to compete with full time footballer’s. Maybe other teams will have different reasons as to why, but for me and for us, it’s the above reason.
You lost an influential player in Noxolo Cesane (signed for a team in France) in the middle of the season – it seems that did not affect the team at all, and talks about the quality you have?
Actually, it affected us – she was our key player. She left at a time when Sibulele (Holweni) was still out injured, so we had two influential players out. We drew five games in a row in that period, until Sibulele was back fully fit. We are blessed with a talented, young group of players, but I must admit it had an impact, so credit to the players for turning the corner because we then played and won nine games in a row without conceding a goal.
On a personal front, you won WAFCON with Banyana Banyana; grabbed silver in the Varsity Cup, and now you are second in the Hollywoodbets Super League – how did you get it right?
I strongly believe that if you work with players that they know what they want, half the coach’s job is done. Winning WAFCON with Banyana Banyana was something special, it was an amazing feeling because we came so close in 2018 in Ghana (we lost to Nigeria in the final). Players wanted it more this year, we had to make sure they are physically, tactically and mentally ready for the games. Same as in the league, I knew exactly what the players wanted this season – my job was to make sure they are ready for the campaign. We had a good pre-season, we prepared for games better than the other seasons, with help from our Analysts. Being a football coach comes with a lot of sacrifices – past few years I had to relocate, move away from my comfort zone, sacrifice my social life, my time with my family, so when I see progress I’m happy, but it takes a lot of hard work.
And coming up next week are the USSA games – what keeps you and the team going?
It’s been a long season, some of our players have not been home since January due to the hectic league schedule and school work. The USSA tournament is our last assignment for the year, a very important competition because it’s also Varsity Football qualifiers (top 8 will qualify for 2023 edition) so that’s what keeps us going, and we want to finish the year on a high note.
You also have the FIFA Women’s World Cup coming up next year, what are your thoughts on the draw?
There’s no easy group in the World Cup. We are in the group with teams that are ranked higher than us: 2 – Sweden, 14 – Italy, 29 – Argentina. We have a goal as a team, we just have to prepare well, work a little bit more than before. Also, I think the Men’s World Cup in Qatar is showing us that anything is possible at that level.
And finally, what are your ambitions for 2023?
Personally, to continue to grow and develop as a coach, Football is evolving everyday so we must never stop learning.
As a team, to finish a position better than 2022, to see more players graduating, with the talent that we have I’m sure we will have more players going abroad. We pride ourselves as being the team that’s able to produce players that go shine at international level.
UWC HOLLYWOODBETS RESULTS IN 2022
Sat, 26 Nov 2022:
UWC 2 – 0 Durban Ladies
Sun, 20 Nov 2022:
Golden Ladies 0 – 5 UWC
Wed, 16 Nov 2022:
Vasco da Gama 0 – 1 UWC
Sun, 13 Nov 2022:
UWC 2 – 0 Ma-Indies Ladies
Sun, 6 Nov 2022:
Richmond United 0 – 2 UWC
Wed, 2 Nov 2022:
UWC 4 – 0 Richmond United
Wed, 26 Oct 2022:
UWC 5 – 0 Tsunami Queens
Sun, 23 Oct 2022:
UJ Ladies 0 – 3 UWC
Wed, 19 Oct 2022:
Tsunami Queens 0 – 1 UWC
Sun, 2 Oct 2022:
UWC 0 – 0 Coal City Wizards
Wed, 28 Sep 2022:
First Touch FC 1 – 1 UWC
Sat, 24 Sep 2022:
UWC 0 – 0 JVW
Sun, 18 Sep 2022:
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies 1 -1 UWC
Sat, 27 Aug 2022:
UWC 2 – 2 Thunderbirds Ladies
Sun, 21 Aug 2022:
TUT 0 – 0 UWC
Wed, 17 Aug 2022:
Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies 0 – 2 UWC
Sun, 14 Aug 2022:
UWC 2 – 0 City Lads Ladies
Tue, 9 Aug 2022:
Durban Ladies 2 – 4 UWC
Sat, 6 Aug 2022:
UWC 2 – 0 Golden Ladies
Sat, 30 Jul 2022:
Wed, 8 Jun 2022:
UWC 2 – 1 UJ Ladies
Sat, 4 Jun 2022:
UWC 4 – 1 Vasco da Gama
Wed, 1 Jun 2022:
Coal City Wizards 0 – 1 UWC
Sat, 28 May 2022:
UWC 3 – 0 First Touch
Sun, 22 May 2022:
JVW 0 – 0 UWC
Sun, 15 May 2022:
UWC 2 – 0 Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies
Wed, 11 May 2022:
Thunderbirds Ladies 0 – 1 UWC
Sun, 8 May 2022:
UWC 1 – 3 TUT
Sat, 30 Apr 2022:
UWC 0 – 0 Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies
Sat, 23 Apr 2022:
City Lads Ladies 1 – 2 UWC
By Matlhomola Morake
