Hundreds of University of the Western Cape students gathered outside the Jakes Gerwel Hall on Tuesday afternoon to welcome five Banyana Banyana heroes.
UWC is home to five players from the recently crowned Wafcon champions plus the assistant coach, Thinasonke Mbuli, adding to a rich tradition between the university and the national team.
Regirl Ngobeni, Bongeka Gamede, Amogelang Motau, Noxolo Cesane, Sibulele Holweni and Mbuli, the UWC head coach who doubles as national coach Desiree Ellis’ assistant, greeted fans who all stood waiting to take pictures of the African champions and show their support.
Midfielder Amogelang said: “Just to come back and see this level of support is just so overwhelming and I hope that this can be a sign of things to come.
“Hopefully, we can get the same support when we play our league matches here at UWC, because this is where it all starts. Having this amount of support can ensure that we continue to strive as players and it can help the national team as well.”
The 25-year-old is one of the more popular players in the Banyana set-up where she operates as the driving force in the team’s midfield and her popularity showed yesterday as scores of students approached her to take selfies.
UWC sporting director Mandla Gagayi said the relationship between Banyana and the university has been exceptionally strong in recent years.
“There are five players who are currently students of UWC while a further six are alumni and that is something you rarely see in any sport,” she says.
“In 2016, we strived to dedicate as many resources to women’s sport and today you can see the benefits as we are unrivalled in terms of supplying top-quality talent.
“Not only do we have talented players but we also got in the right mentors with people like Thinasonke Mbuli, who is both our head coach and the national team’s assistant coach.”
Thinasonke said she hopes the recent success of Banyana can help extend the rich legacy of UWC students representing Mzansi and she feels they are heading in the right direction.
“It is important that we continue to succeed on the pitch because that can help keep the tradition going and we cannot wait for the next generation of stars to shine through,” she said.