UWC Women’s Football head coach Thinasonke Mbuli is hopeful for her charges despite starting their Hollywoodbets Super League season with a loss against last season’s champions, Sundowns Ladies.

The experienced Mbuli is in her sixth season as the coach of UWC’s senior side and was also part of the Banyana Banyana technical team that won its first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022. She was also in the team that finished as runners-up in the same tournament in 2018.

Mbuli also made history as the coach of UWC who became the first university side in Africa to participate in the CAF Women’s Champions League last year.

Hailing from eMkhondo (formerly Piet Retief), Mbuli grew up emulating her football fanatic father. She eventually started playing in the streets, mimicking her footballing heroes.
 
“I moved from Mpumalanga when I was 12 to Empangeni in Richards Bay where I was at boarding school. It was a girls' high school, and football was the only thing I could do (when it came to sports). If you were not playing netball or athletics, then (it was) football,” said Mbuli.

At Dlangezwa High School, the girls had an inter-house mini-league, “which was our entertainment”, Mbuli recounted. “That’s where I started to play organised football, with a coach, with a proper team, kits and everything.”

When she finished high school, she enrolled at the Durban University of Technology, where she played for the university team. Unfortunately, there were no professional football opportunities after she completed her tertiary education.

“At that time, we just had provincial teams. So, I played for the provincial team (KwaZulu-Natal) and the university sports team, which is USSA (University Sports South Africa). That’s when I got my first international trip to South Korea,” said Mbuli.

While professional women’s football came too late for her, Mbuli has no regrets as she has played a role in forming the professional league and also benefited from the professionalisation of women's football.

“So you can either be a coach, a referee or an administrator or anything. I’m just glad I get to see what’s happening now in women’s football. We can only be happy for the current players; they can earn something and support their families,” said Mbuli.

Despite football being huge in Cape Town, she said only a handful of her players at the University of the Western Cape are from the Mother City.

“Mostly, they are students, but we try to make sure that we balance the two. Yes, we play in a professional league, so we can’t just bring students because they have a lot of school work to do, but we try to maintain that 90% of the team are students,” said Mbuli.

The remaining 10% are former students who have completed their postgraduate studies and have decided to take a break.

While the UWC Caracals’ side may have started their Hollywoodbets Super League campaign with a loss, coach Mbuli remains optimistic about the season ahead and will continue to shape the next generation of women footballers.

Balancing academics and professional sports, UWC is not just competing on the field but also proving that education and football can go hand in hand. As the season progresses, Mbuli’s leadership will be key in guiding her team to success.

Thumbnail Image: Shelley Christians