sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Desiree Ellis (born 14 March 1963) is a South African soccer manager and former player. She currently coaches the South Africa women's national team. She is a founding member of the Banyana Banyana and the second captain of the national team.[2][3] She was awarded Confederation of African Football Women's Coach of the Year in 2018 after her team finished second place in the African Women Cup of Nations and qualifying for the Women's World Cup for the first time.[4][5][6] During her club career she played as a midfielder for Spurs Ladies among other teams.She is honored to have won the African Women Cup of Nations in 2022 after South Africa's long run for a win in the finals

Desiree Ellis

Ellis in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth	(1963-03-14) 14 March 1963 (age 59)[1]
Place of birth	Salt River, Cape Town, South Africa
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	South Africa Women (manager)
Youth career
	Saban United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1984	Athlone Celtic	126	(51)
1985–1986	Wynberg St Johns	44	(22)
1987–1988	Joyces United	46	(28)
1989–1990	St. Albans City	54	(36)
1991–2002	Spurs Ladies	330	(231)
Total		600	(368)
National team
1993–2002	South Africa	32	(6)
Teams managed
2006–2016	Spurs Ladies
2016–	South Africa Women
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 August 2014

Early life

Ellis grew up in Salt River in the 1970s. 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'd drop 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.[2][7]

Club career

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.[2]

Outside football

Ellis had many administration occupations during her playing career. She was the vice-president of Western Province Women's Football Association from 1994 to 1995 and later the PRO of the association from 1996 to 1997. She worked as a Chief Librarian at a photo agency, Touchline in 2001.[8]

International career

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.[9] 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.[9] 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.[8] 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.[10]

Post retirement career

Ellis can be seen on TV as a soccer commentator and a pundit on local television station e-TV. She was an ambassador for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[10] She also worked at Gallo Images as a picture editor.[11]

Coaching career

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.[12] Ellis was appointed head coach in February 2018[13] 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.[14] She was awarded Confederation of African Football Women's Coach of the Year in 2018, 2019[4] and 2022.[15][16]

Ellis coached Banyana Banyana to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations victory in Morocco in 2022.[17]

Honours

Player

South Africa

• COSAFA Women's Championship: 2002[18]
• Women's Africa Cup of Nations runners-up: 2000[19]

Individual

• Mobil Achievement Award by WP Sportswriters: 1980
• SAFA Women's Inter-provincials: 1986, 1989, 1992
• Foschini Cape Woman Football Player of the Year: 1989, 1993
• WP Player of the Year: 1983, 1993
• Sanlam Sports Star of the Month (November): 2000
• SAFA Special Recognition Gold Award: 2001
• Presidential Sports Silver Award: 2001[20]
• Mandisa Shiceka Role Model Award by ANC Youth League: 2001

Manager

South Africa

• COSAFA Women's Championship: 2018,[21][22] 2019,[23] 2020[24]
• Women's Africa Cup of Nations: 2022,[25] runners-up: 2018[26]
• Aisha Buhari Cup: 2021[27]

Individual

• Sports Minster's Excellence Award: 2017[18]
• Confederation of African Football Women's Coach of the Year: 2018, 2019, 2022[28]

References

На других языках

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- [en] Desiree Ellis

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[es] Desiree Ellis

Desiree Ellis (Salt River, Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica, 14 de marzo de 1963) es una exfutbolista y entrenadora sudafricana de fútbol que actualmente dirige la Selección de fútbol femenino de Sudáfrica.[1][2]

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[fr] Desiree Ellis

Desiree Ellis, née le 14 mars 1963 à Salt River, est une joueuse puis entraîneuse de football sud-africaine. Elle évolue au poste de milieu de terrain dans divers clubs sud-africains ainsi qu'en équipe nationale de football féminine d'Afrique du Sud. Elle est sélectionneur de cette équipe depuis 2016.

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