When Desiree Ellis lifted the Women’s African Cup of Nations (Wafcon) last month, it was a dream come true.
It wasn’t just the dream of a professional football coach, it was the dream of a little girl from Hanover Park.
The 59-year-old struggled for many years to finally realise that ambition – from mixing spices in a butchery, to being a librarian in a media house and working in administration in the women’s game.
Just to play the sport she fell in love with had the hele roadblocks, when playing with the boys was frowned upon.
“Back then they would ask me if I wanted to be a boy and my father would threaten to make me go to school barefoot because my shoes were always ruined from playing,” she recalls.
The lack of a professional league for women in South Africa didn’t stop her from playing amateur football around the Cape and for her country.
And she was close to getting her hands on the trophy 22 years ago as captain of Banyana Banyana, falling short in the 2000 final to Nigeria in Boksburg – the first of five defeats for SA at the final hurdle.
But she kept fighting, got her coaching badges, becoming interim coach in 2016 and head coach two years later.
It kicked off a string of successes for Banyana, who Ellis guided to their first of three consecutive Cosafa Cup titles and the final of the 2018 Wafcon and with it SA’s first qualification for a World Cup tournament – all in her first year.
Those achievements saw her named Caf Women’s Coach of the Year in 2018, 2019 and 2022 – a hat trick, given the pandemic.
And finally on July 23 in Rabat, she became the undisputed queen of African football.
Asked what she is most proud of, the humble Ellis says: “My current team. They are the most connected group, a unit. We’ve been together for something like 48 games and they all have the same goal.
“The belief that they have in themselves and as a group, nothing made them waver from their goal.”
Coach Des’ next big goal is leading Banyana stars Hildah Magaia, Jermaine Seoposenwe, Refiloe Jane, Thembi Kgatlana and legends Janine van Wyk and Noko Matlou to the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in Australia and New Zealand next year.
Looking back at her achievements, though, and her background in Hanover Park, she says: “Many people use where they come from [as motivation] – whether it’s Hanover Park or Manenberg. But that does not define who you become.
“A lot of people use those circumstances to grab opportunities and to make a better life.
“Haashim Domingo is just from up the road here and he is now at Mamelodi Sundowns.
“Vicky Sampson is also from Hanover Park and we know what a great singer she is. But it just goes to show that if you have a dream, and you get the opportunity, you can grab it.
“We shouldn’t use where we come from to say that we cannot achieve.”
Obviously, she isn’t the only SA football legend from Hanover Park’s streets, with Bafana Bafana record goalscorer and new Manchester United attacking coach Benni McCarthy also representing.
She reveals that Benni congratulated her on winning Wafcon.
Ellis says: “Benni was saying now the other day – before he even knew that he was going to join Manchester United – I’m the queen from Hanover Park. I was saying no, but he’s the king.
“Now he is coaching at his dream club. He knocked them out of the Champions League in 2004 for Porto and won it. It shows that you can keep dreaming. Just keep working.”
She hopes that she and Benni will inspire not only people from Hanover Park, but everywhere to chase their dreams.
She says: “While they say he’s the king and I’m the queen, there is space for more people on that throne.
“I think everyone has a story to tell. So I hope that by telling our story, we can inspire others.”