On the 8th of October 2022, Banyana Banyana forward Thembi Kgatlana tweeted, “We can never emphasise the importance of having a professional women’s league in South Africa. The intensity and pace is too high when we play European countries. And we are not coping at all.”
These sentiments were shared after the South African Senior Women’s National team was humbled 4-1 by Australia, the co-hosts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The match took place in London in October 2022.
About a month prior to this fixture, they suffered 3-0 and 6-0 losses to Brazil in friendly internationals in Johannesburg and Durban respectively.
Just this week she repeated the same sentiments when speaking to the members of the South African Football Journalists Association (SAFJA) via zoom from her new home in Louisville, USA.
Responding to a question about the World Cup draw which sees the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana in Group G alongside Sweden, Italy and Argentina, this is what she had to say.
“It’s a tricky question and I think over the years that’s something that we’ve been trying to emphasize in the media. Yes, we have won the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, but we must be realistic – the majority of all these teams that we are playing against, especially outside of Africa, have the experience. They are highly ranked than us and a lot of their players are playing in Europe or in their countries where they have professional leagues, and we are still coming to that level. It will take time for us to be professional – and when I say professional, I am not only saying the woman’s game in South Africa is professional. It takes a lot – it’s making sure that the conditioning of the players is on point, a good environment is being created for the players to perform at a high level. In my opinion, we need more from everyone and that’s why the game needs to be professionalized. It would be great if we were almost on the same level when it comes to performance, but we are not.”
She is under no illusion that their back-to-back appearance at the world’s biggest stage will not be an easy one. In their maiden World Cup in 2019 in France, Banyana Banyana were knocked out of the group stages.
“We are still underdogs! Yes, we are not in the group of death, and I hear people saying we have a chance – I believe so too, but it’s going to take more than just saying it. We need great preparations, we need to play highly ranked teams, we need camps even when it’s not FIFA breaks for the players that are locally based to play together to know each other. We need to be at a point where we kind of have an idea of the players that we are going to take to the World Cup. I feel that we should have an idea of how we want to play, what is it that we want to play and bring in those players – but it’s difficult because the league is not professional in South Africa. Some players don’t go to training because they must work, and they also have school, then eventually we have a short time to prepare for a tournament like the World Cup. But if you’re professional it’s your everyday job, you are competing at a high level. And I think that’s something that we need to be realistic about, sadly we don’t have that.”
The Racing Louisville FC new arrival says while South Africa and Sweden have met on several occasions, it will not be the same at the World Cup.
“We’ve played Sweden a couple of times, that for me that doesn’t mean anything because the team that we had that played against Sweden a couple of years ago, half of them are not there or not being called up or are injured. We have a new team and for me that’s worrying that every time we go into a tournament, we have a new team instead of building up from the team that we have always had and kept over the years, because I think that’s where our strength lies – the more time we spend together, understand and know each other, the better we perform. For example, when we prepared for the Olympics in 2016 under coach Vera, we were together for about six months and we got to understand each other. Yes, we did not progress to the next round but for me there was a great display of football we’ve ever played because we were at a level of understanding each other and it was because of camping every single time or every chance we got. Right now, there aren’t too many FIFA breaks, so preparation is going to be key.”
Kgatlana was given a year out of the game to recuperate but has made remarkable recovery and could be back on the field sooner than expected. She attributes that to the support structure that she had during her rehabilitation in South Africa.
“My family and friends were my biggest support. I hadn’t been home full time in four years, so we used this time to bond – for my parents to take care of me because we know that I had a little mobility for a couple of months, so I needed to be loved. I think when I got injured it was obvious that that’s what I’ve always missed when I was away from home, for people to take care of you and to make sure that your needs are met, and I will always be thankful to my family and friends for always being there and supporting me. Not forgetting Racing Louisville FC who have been there every step of the way, SAFA who took care of all my medical bills and making sure they get me into a good rehabilitation program – that made things even easier for me because I didn’t have that to stress about the other things that I couldn’t control. Gratitude also goes to my agent for keeping the Racing Louisville deal alive and to all the South Africans sending their love and well wishes. It was great to be in a space where people appreciated you even when not playing, and that was the biggest driving force for me.”
On South Africa bidding to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she gives the thumbs but adds that a lot needs to be done first:
I think we should, it will bring all the opportunities that we need as a country and maybe will bring a lot of sponsors and a lot of money to be invested in women’s football. I think hosting the World Cup creates more opportunities for the players and for people that aspire to be professional footballers. I believe that it would be great. It’s all good that we have the Hollywoodbets Super League and the SABC is broadcasting a couple of games and we also have livestreaming – but that’s not enough because what happens to the coverage of other matches. Also, we still have teams struggling to get transport to games, struggling to have kit, struggling just to have basic things like a football pitch, struggling with equipment facilities – having physios or doctors with them full time. We need to start making sure that the league gets stronger because once we have the foundation, that the well-being of players is taken into consideration then we are making strides, next have these players compensated, it is more strides. In that way, we are making sure that we attract even bigger names to play in South Africa. For me it’s those small things but very important.
On leaving Atletico Madrid in Spain after one season despite signing for longer:
“I signed a long term contract – three seasons – with Atletico and we know that woman’s football is growing across the whole world and even if you’re in a long term contract it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be there for long. I think my stats were good on the games that I played at Atletico, and that led Louisville to come and gett me. It was an amazing opportunity of course to come back to the NWSL because I’ve been here before a couple of years ago (2018) and I know what it takes to play in this league and it was also a very tactical move for me and my team because, yes, truth be told, at Atletico I wasn’t getting a lot of game time so you know my team and I obviously like to plan ahead. When that opportunity presented itself to move, I think it was something that we always wanted because I mean any player wherever they go they want game time but it’s not easy, you have to work hard for it. The fact that Louisville came knocking, there was something that I could build on for my career – and my team and I thought it would be great to come back to the NWSL.”
On returning to the USA after her first stint with Houston Dash in 2018:
To be honest I can’t say it’s going to be easy, but I know it will be better than the last time I was here because I just left South Africa to join a Houston Dash and now I come back to the NWSL with a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge from all the other teams and coaches that I played for in Europe and everywhere else in the world. So another challenging thing or something that I have to take into consideration is I’m coming back from an injury, so I think my main goal right now is obviously to make sure that I come back healthier and stronger so that I can be able to start making strides again in playing football. So far things have been going great, my medical team here in Louisville is happy and we don’t want to jeopardize anything because we know how important it is and difficult to have such a huge injury and be able to come back months later to play, so I think I’m looking forward to actually making all the recovery that I need so that I can be able to come back and play.”
On the standard of the American League:
I haven’t fully joined the team since I am nearing the end of my rehabilitation program. I have been training alone but I’ve managed to watch a couple of friendly games that the girls have played here, and I must say I’m really impressed of the level. The reason I chose to come to the NWSL again is because of the competition. The NWSL is considered to be the strongest league in the world in terms of competition on the field. Most of the girls that play for the US national team play locally, that means they are improving this league. They (organisers) have a way of moving all the national team players that are contracted by the federation. In the NWSL the league controls where the national team players go, that means they can boost their league by dividing the players so they can be spread out instead of the bulk of them in one team – and I think that’s a great idea because then you are able to divide the experience of all these players playing in the league. That’s a great setup to make sure that there’s always competition. I think the US has been doing a great job in making sure that the competition is there and stays throughout the seasons. We are even seeing more franchises coming in. The NWSL has announced that about three franchises will come next season so that means this league is growing because when I played here there were only eight teams in the NWSL now there’s almost 14 teams this season, potentially 16 or 18 in the coming years. The league is growing and that competition is boosts the US national team, and that’s why I think, in my opinion, they’re the best in the world because they’ve kept majority of their national team players in one place.”
On her welcome to Racing Louisville FC:
“Ever since I came here, I am very happy. The club – technical team and players – has exceeded my expectations. But I can’t say I’m surprised because I saw when I got injured how they all came through for me emotionally, how they reached out to me. The girls hadn’t even met me – I only signed with them for about three days and I got injured but they reached out, sent their love, and told me they are waiting for me to come and join them. It’s been nice to be with the team, the technical team is very supportive and understanding, the girls too, as well as the community. Been getting a lot of messages, even people come to watch us train at the stadium – it’s been the best welcome I’ve ever received.”
On changing clubs almost every season – since 2018 she was with Atletico Madrid, SD Eibar, Benfica, Beijing BG Phoenix, and Houston Dash:
“When I move to any foreign country I have to adjust and we’re looking to get into a team obviously that’s more comfortable and suitable for me on and off the field so that I can be able to express myself better as an athlete. Over the years I think we were opting to get one year contract and an extension, obviously depending on how I adjust to the club. We have to understand that there’s a lot to keep in mind in foreign countries – you have to learn their language, you have to adjust to the food, to the culture and for me a year it’s not long enough for you to do that. It also depends on whether you are having a good season within those plans. I wanted to stay longer in Spain that’s why we opted for a long term contract. We always make decisions but at the end of the day, as I said, woman’s football is growing and it’s always difficult to kind of stay in one place that is why you see every FIFA window how many girls move, even those in long term contracts. At the end of the day you want to play for the best teams you want to make a good name for yourself. I have to be honest, I don’t like staying in one place for too long, I don’t like getting comfortable and we’ve seen over the years I’ve been moving around to make sure that I get into a suitable team. This is the second time I come to the NWSL and so far the treatment in Louisville has been way better than what I’ve experienced anywhere. Actually I signed two years for Louisville just that when I signed they were halfway through the season and I got injured so I couldn’t come and finish the season with them, so it may look like this year is only one year but this is my second year in the contract, we also have an option to renew at the end of the season.”
On the Thembi Kgatlana Foundation: During her rehabilitation, she found time to do worthy causes through her foundation
“Over the years my foundation has been there but we’ve made so much progress in making sure that we focus a lot on women development and empowerment. I think the reason behind that is as the founder, when I was growing up, I had role models but never had people that would look down to us as young upcoming players to inspire us in a way that was just beyond looking into the football world. I’m very humbled to be in a position where I can help other girls, that I can be able to play at such a high level and still think about other people. Every season we look for a team that we can donate new pairs of boots to, because I know personally that it’s expensive for one to get a quality boot and not a lot of people can afford those boots. I speak from experience because when I started playing football, it took months if not years for my parents to get me quality boots and in between that I had to work with what I had. I think it’s a great initiative by my foundation to go back and make sure that we give out these boots to girls free of charge so they can also see that their dreams are valid because there’s a very thin line between making your dreams come true and giving up. I also want them (girls) to understand that they can easily be in the position that I’m in, so we are giving them the support and enhancement and tools to make sure that they also believe in themselves and know that it’s it’s possible to dream and get there. A lot of role models are doing the same – we also saw the Siya Kolisi Foundation inspiring kids in Cape Town, making sure they play rugby. I still believe that sports has the power to bring us all together despite our family backgrounds, despite everything else that’s going on around us and it truly humbles me to think that someone could have given up playing football but the fact that we reached out to them and gave them soccer boots, put them in a better position to want to continue playing football.”
On returning home to play – during her time in South Africa before moving abroad to the USA at Houston Dash, Kgatlana used to run out for the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
“For me it’s out of the question for now because, yes, women’s football is making strides in the country, but the strides are very slow compared to everywhere else in the world. People are throwing in millions of euros and dollars in women’s football, and we haven’t done that. For now, the league in South Africa is not professional enough for me to say I want to come back home. We need it to be professional and it’s going to take many years for us to get there.”
By Matlhomola Morake
