'I Had To Fight To Get Into Coaching'

--:--
Women’s football in South Africa has seen major breakthroughs in recent years, most recently with Banyana Banyana making their World Cup debut in France, but the road to glory has been treacherous.

Former Technical Director of Women's Football at the South African Football Association (SAFA) Fran Hilton-Smith has been the champion of the Women’s game for decades. She spoke to SL Radio about how she had to struggle to get into coaching and earn her coaching qualifications;

“When my playing career drew to an end, I realised there weren’t many [female] coaches. In fact, there were none. So I decided I [wanted] to be a coach. That took me on another very difficult journey because, of course, I was the only woman and the men were a bit averse to that, it was a boy’s club. So I had to fight my way into that as well.

"[I fought my way] into doing FIFA courses in ’93 and then we had a big CAF instructors course in ’94. With much pushing, shoving, jumping up and down and crying, I got into those courses."

The Former Banyana Banyana Coach also spoke to how she earned further respect as a coach; “Once I got in, the guys realised that I could play very well. I was a very fast left-footer, and so they accepted me because of my skill. [These] guys are now big boys, Trott Moloto, Shakes [Mashaba], Computer (Vusi Lamola), the late Ted [Dumitru] were there. That’s how I started coaching.”
22 Jul 2020 English South Africa Sports · Sports

Other recent episodes

Why Foster Should Rely On Benni...

When Lyle Foster was released by Orlando Pirates to Monaco in 2019, not many would have predicted the path he traveled. The 22-year-old made a few appearances for the french outfit before being sent out on loan to  Cercle Brugge. From there, Foster bounced around Europe until he settled in Belgium…
2 May 2023 15 min

Margeman: Why stopping Sundown’s won’t be easy

Grant Margeman is very quickly becoming a household name in the PSL where he is currently on loan at Supersport United. Grant began his career at Ajax Cape Town where he found his footing in South African football. After a few years in the Mother City, DStv Premiership giants, Mamelodi…
17 Apr 2023 15 min

“The PSL and SAFA don’t eat from the same dish” - TK

VAR has been implemented in leagues around the world and a love-hate relationship has sprouted. The footballing world is split, with many suggesting that the VAR is killing the game whilst the other half argues that introducing technology will only better the game. Even though CAR is indeed technology, it…
20 Mar 2023 13 min

Do Local Teams and SAFA Believe In Youth?

What could be called a little know fact, is that there are over 100 players, globally who are eligible to repent Bafana Bafana from the youth level to the first team. These players range forage 9 ups until the early twenties. Many are playing for the best youth academies around…
28 Dec 2022 25 min

"Pitso Knows What He Is Doing"

Pitso Mosimane is no stranger to challenges and it seems as if Jingles is facing his biggest challenge yet. The serial winner has joined Al Ahli Saudi FC and has recently been relegated from the Saudi Pro League, and the club hopes to be promoted. Al Ahli Saudi FC has…
3 Oct 2022 29 min