Desiree Ellis

Ellis grew up in Salt River in the 1970s. She stayed at her grandmother's place after school as both her parents, father Ernest, (d. 1989) and mother Natalie, worked during the day. There were no women's clubs back then and she played soccer with boys and her cousins. After school she would drop off her school bag, change her clothes and run outside to her waiting teammates. Her father often threatened to send her to school barefoot because she'd ruin her shoes while playing soccer.[3][10]

Ellis eventually found another women's club,(Athlone Celtic was the first club she played for) Spurs Ladies while she still worked at a butchery in Lansdowne mixing spices. She once left town with the club over a weekend, promising her employers that she'd return in time for work but the vehicle the team was travelling in broke down on the way home, making her fail to arrive on time. Consequently, Ellis got fired.[3]

Ellis went for trials for the national team and passed and would feature in the team's first international match. She debuted against Swaziland at the age of 30 on 30 May 1993 in a 14–0 win. Ellis scored a hat-trick, as did two other players.[11] During the 1995 World Cup qualifiers, South Africa beat Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola on aggregate, 10–1, 11–5 and 6–4 but lost to Nigeria 11–2.[11] When South Africa hosted the 2000 African Women's Championship, she captained the side to a runner-up finish. In 2000, Ellis was nominated alongside Mercy Akide and Florence Omagbemi for African Woman Footballer of the Year.[12] She was recognized for her services to soccer the same year when she received a Silver Presidential Sports Award. She also led Banyana Banyana to the 2002 COSAFA Cup victory. In her 32 caps for South Africa she won 23 matches, lost seven and drew two. She retired from soccer in April 2002 at the age of 38.[13]

Ellis was appointed interim manager of the South Africa women's national football team in 2016 after Vera Pauw resigned following the team's group stage exit at the 2016 Olympics.[14] Ellis was appointed head coach in February 2018[15] and coached the team, then ranked 50th in the world, to a second-place finish in the Africa Women Cup of Nations, losing to 11-time champions Nigeria on penalty kicks in the final; nonetheless, by finishing second, South Africa qualified to its first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019.[16] She was awarded Confederation of African Football Women's Coach of the Year in 2018, 2019[5] and 2022.[17][18]

Ellis coached Banyana Banyana to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations victory in Morocco in 2022.[19] She made history with Banyana Banyana by beating Italy and making it to the final sixteen in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup