South Africa’s Sheryl Botes believes Uganda Women’s Football has a bright future.
She is currently in camp with the Uganda U17 Women’s National team that is preparing for the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers. They face Namibia on Thursday (16 January 2025) at the Nakivubo Stadium in Uganda. The return leg will be played three days later (19 January).
Botes is confident of the outcome.
“Women’s football has become so competitive over the years, so there are no longer easy teams. We will make sure to study and analyse Ethiopia very well, to give a good account of ourselves,” said Botes after one of the Uganda U17 Women’s National team training sessions.
“We brought in 39 players to have a look at all of them. The players are still very young but showed good discipline, commitment to learn and they understand what is required of them. I think it will be a good match against Namibia.”
The overall winner will face Kenya in the second round.
Although the Uganda Senior Women’s National team is yet to qualify for major tournaments like the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Olympic Games, Botes, who is also the head of the Uganda Senior Women’s National team, is confident they are heading in the right direction.
To date, they have been to two CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations – in 2010 and 2022.
)
“I am excited because FUFA (Federation of Uganda Football Associations) has given their full support to all the Women programs, and that is a very important move, which augurs well for the future. Based on what I have seen and the discussions going on in the background, I think Uganda women’s football has a bright future,” said Botes from her base in Uganda.
Since her appointment back in November, Botes has spent most of her time working on programmes in women’s football in the east African country.
The former South African U20 Women’s National team head coach says she has grown fond of Uganda after one year on the job.
“I am one year in Uganda now and I have grown to like it here – the country, the friendly and hardworking people and the food. Look, I must admit the first six months were very tough as I missed my family back home, but I managed to pull through because I knew what I was here for,” added Botes.
The Cape Town-born mentor has identified a few challenges, and perhaps something that applies around the continent.
“It is a fact that every country has its own challenges but what is glaring, and something that is happening in most parts of the continent, is that youth teams are not getting enough competitions, which becomes a big challenge. Also, there is a serious lack in goalkeeper training but I believe these are things we will overcome with time,” she added.
By Matlhomola Morake
