15 Aug 2019

We are ready! There is nothing more assuring than a simple show of self-confidence in the face of what  promises to be a titanic battle, come August 30. 

They came. Learnt. And now the senior women national football team is ready to face South Africa in the Olympic qualifier game billed for the National Stadium on August 30.  

The team was in a two-week training camp in Slovakia, where they had the pleasure of using top notch training facilities at the NTC Poprad centre. Both the technical team and the players say in unison that the NTC Proprad centre was a perfect place for their training camp. They felt home away from home. 

In Poprad, BOPA’S Anastacia Sibanda interviews the coaching staff and team captain. 

Head coach - Gaoletlhoo Nkutwisang  

The training camp was very interesting. The atmosphere, on its own, has boasted our morale. What I have learnt from the training camp is the importance of conducting training sessions in different areas and departments.And I have also realised that it is very important to meet different technical teams to benchmark from them. We had a session with Slovakia’s technical team, and I am happy they shared with us a lot of things that I think will help my team immensely.Some of the things they taught us is to monitor the players’ performance during training and that a coach and a player have to give each other feedback. But at the end of it all, I would like to say ÄŽakujem Slovensko! (Thank you Slovakia).

Assistant head coach - Alex Malete

One of the things that we learnt in Slovakia is that training has to be specific to how you want to play. What is also helping them is analysing video of every game and all our games here were  captured on video.They do video analysis of every game and they have a software that they use to analyse games. And I think that is what gives them a true picture of what really happened on the pitch.It is something that we should also look into, so that we can be more specific in terms of preparations for our games. Besides that, one of the things that the Slovakian technical team emphasised is the intensity of training so that players can learn to play quicker and how to be strong so that there are no surprises during the game. All in all, we appreciate the lessons from our counterparts. 

Goalkeeper coach - Joseph Maposa

In the two weeks that we were here, I learnt a lot from Slovakia. Their technical team met us to share notes and they showed us how they conduct their trainings. Their technical director also paid us a visit and shared some important information with us.But generally, what I have learnt is how to fully prepare for the game and training sessions. To be honest, they are more advanced because most of their players ply their trade outside the country, so when they meet for a camp they only work on the physical and endurance part.In terms of goalkeeping, I have learnt that I need to understand the environment and the behaviour of the goalkeeper, like during training, I have to understand her mood on the day, so that I know the programme that I can give her. After all is said and done all I can say is ÄŽakujem Slovensko! 

BFA women development officer - Barobi Ngwako 

All I can say is that the training camp went well. Our players have developed confidence and also I must emphasis that the facilities gave the team an opportunity to express themselves.Both the players and the technical team, learnt a lot from the Slovakian technical team. It is  a unique and rare opportunity for us to  be training in Slovakia. A win against Banyana Banyana will make both associations proud. On behalf of BFA I say ÄŽakujem Slovensko! (Thank you Slovakia).

Captain - Bonang Otlhagile

To be honest, Slovakia is what the doctor ordered for the team. We are going back home as a proud and united team, and as players we say ÄŽakujem Slovensko! The facilities, training equipment and diet were first class.We have learned a lot in Slovakia from our guest coaches. They taught us a lot of things, like closing spaces and we trained separately according to our departments.All what I can say is that we are now ready to face our opponents.  As you can see, the morale is very high and what is now left is to execute what we have learnt here on August 30. Ends