After a near perfect season, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies lead the list of nominations in the 2022 Hollywoodbets Super League awards.
Busisiwe Ndimeni of the Tshwane University of Technology is sandwiched between two players from Banyana Ba Style for the ultimate award of the Player of the Year – midfielder Boitumelo Rabale and defender Bambanani Mbane.
Ndimeni has been a livewire for the Tshwane outfit and was instrumental in their 19 victories in 30 games, as she helped her side to third position on the table, chipping in with some crucial goals.
Equally adept in front of goal was Rabale, who led the scoring charts in Chloorkop with 23 strikes – Sundowns Ladies scored a total of 126 in 2022.
Popularly known as Queen, the Lesotho international was a marvel to watch when in possession for the Brazilians.
Banyana Ba Style conceded 13 goals in 30 outings, which indicates a strong defence where Mbane shone for the Chloorkop outfit.
The 2021 Player of the Year winner will be keeping her fingers crossed that she bags back to back victories in the same category.
Head coach of the Brazilians, Jerry Kappa Tshabalala, has plotted the downfall of many a team this season – which saw his side win 27 matches, lose two and draw just once.
He lifted the Coach of the Year trophy last year and will be confident of doing the same in 2022 after winning the league title with eight games to spare. This was their third championship in a row.
But Tshabalala faces a stiff challenge from Thinasonke Mbuli of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) as well as Lucky Sibiya of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).
Mbuli, assistant coach of Banyana Banyana, led a young team of students on a fairy-tale run as they improved on their third place finish in 2021 to end second in 2022.
UWC lost only two matches all season, playing eight draws, while registering 20 wins.
Sibiya on the other hand was in charge of a team that played with bravery and fluidity.
Under his tutelage, TUT was on the verge of retaining their second place spot they achieve in 2021, but lost the race on the last day of the season – with Mbuli and company pipping them to the position.
Also in line to make the Brazilians to shine on the night of the awards is goalkeeper Sedilame Boseja who will battle it out with UWC’s Regirl Ngobeni and Katlego Moletsane of Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies in the Goalkeeper of the Year category.
Boseja, who is often in goals for Banyana Ba Style when Andile Dlamini sits a match out, is part of the squad that conceded 13 goals, same as what Ngobeni’s UWC let in in 30 games, while Moletsane’s Celtic Ladies allowed 22 into the back of the net.
The Young Player of the Year award is also another hotly-contested accolade.
Nthabiseng Majiya – who helped Banyana Banyana lift the Women’s continental title in Morocco – has been in fine form for Richmond United and will be hoping neither teammate Michelle Sampson and JVW’s Cimone Rauls walk onto the stage to accept the award ahead of her.
Nompumelelo Nyandeni will also pick up an award for the top goal scorer of the season for the second year in a row.
The JVW captain led by example as she netted 30 of the 82 goals scored by the Blue Diamonds.
Last season she shared the award with Sundowns Ladies Andisiwe Mgcoyi following a stalemate of 27 strikes each.
Kwanele Somtsai, Hloniphile Msezane and Bomkazi Gqeba will fight it out in the Referee of the Year category while, Amogelang Msiza, Athenkosi Sentiwe and Nokubonga Dlamini will find out who is the best Assistant Referee of the Year among them.
The Awards ceremony will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday, 3 December 2022, and this is where Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies will be officially handed their two-million rand prize money.
As league winners, they also qualified for the 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League Zonal (COSAFA) qualifiers which is used to determine Southern Africa’s representatives at the CAF Women’s Champions League.
2022 HOLLYWOODBETS SUPER LEAGUE PRIZE-MONEY BREAKDOWN:
- Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies Champions R2m
- UWC Runners-up: R1m
- TUT R500K
- JVW R400K
- UJ Ladies R300K
- Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies R100K
- Richmond United R100K
- Ma-Indies Ladies R100K
- First Touch FC R100K
- Durban Ladies FC R100K
- Thunderbirds Ladies R100K
- City Lads Ladies R100K
- Coal City Wizards R100K
- Vasco da Gama R100K
- Golden Ladies RELEGATED R50K
- Tsunami Queens RELEGATED R50K
By Matlhomola Morake
