Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis' successes include leading her team to eventual African championships in 2022 and winning the title in Morocco. (Tobi Adepoju/Garo Images)
- Desiree Ellis will receive an honorary doctorate from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology at Thursday's graduation ceremony.
- Ellis is the most successful Banyana Banyana coach in the team's history, leading the team to their first ever Women's Africa Cup of Nations victory in 2022.
- She also led Banyana to become the first senior national team to reach the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup, achieving the feat last year in the co-hosted tournament between Australia and New Zealand.
- For more Banyana news, visit News24's dedicated page for the national football team.
Four-time African Coach of the Year Desiree Ellis will add another accolade to her long list of achievements as she celebrates her contribution to women's football in the country.
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) will award Coach Banyana Banyana an honorary doctorate at the school's graduation ceremony on Thursday.
CPUT said in a statement that Ellis is “at the top of the African and global sporting fraternity due to her significant accomplishments as a professional athlete and as the head coach of the South African women's football team, Banyana Banyana.” It was announced that he would receive this award.
Ellis is the most successful coach in Banyana Banyana history.
She led her team to their first victory at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held in Morocco in 2022. Since taking over the team in 2016, under her leadership, Banyana has qualified for back-to-back FIFA Women's World Cups.
They debuted on the global showpiece in France in 2019 and have returned for the 2023 edition, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Ellis' Banyana made history Down Under, becoming the first South African senior national team to reach the last 16 of the World Cup.
The team lost to arch-rival Nigeria in the final match, and was unable to qualify for the Paris Olympics to be held later this year.
Ellis is a highly decorated coach who has been named the best player in women's football four times by the Confederation of African Football. She received the continental governing body's Coach of the Year award in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
President Cyril Ramaphosa also awarded the 61-year-old with the Golden Medal of the Order of Ikamanga.
She started her career in 1993 at the age of 30 and has remained an exemplary figure ever since.
Apartheid robbed her of her fulfilling years with the national team. But she persisted when South Africa rejoined international football in 1992, two years before it became a democracy.
She won more than 30 caps in eight years as a player and coach for Banyana. In 2014, she was appointed assistant coach to Dutch coach Vera Pauw and helped the team take it to the next level and qualify for the Brazil tournament.
Ellis took over from Pau in 2016, initially in an interim capacity before the title was made permanent, and transformed the team, leading them to continental glory, while also helping South African women operate overseas. The number of soccer players has increased dramatically.
