She Zebras� nickname to be discarded
Kabelo Boranabi | Thursday September 21, 2017 11:29
The team had been called the Lady Zebras and the Female Zebras amongst other names in the past years but they were announced as the She Zebras prior to the departure for this year’s edition of the COSAFA Senior Women Championships held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
The name, She Zebras, did not go well with local football fans and pundits alike as they took it to different social media platforms to show disapproval of the name terming it as sexist while some decried lack of creativity in coming up with the name for the team.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport on Tuesday, BFA communication and marketing manager, Tumo Mpatane said the association has started the process of naming the team after realising the nation’s disapproval over the She Zebras nickname on social media. “There has been media and public buzz about the name that we should have a proper name for the team. We have started the process of re-branding the team and we will engage the public on the whole process. I think it will be appropriate to properly brand our team especially after their performances in Zimbabwe,” he said.
The branding could extend to the junior sides, as the men’s Under-23 are called the Young Zebras while the Under-17 side that qualified for the 2013 African Youth Championship were nicknamed the Diamond Zebras. The women’s junior sides are yet to be nicknamed.
Meanwhile, the women’s senior team won the hearts of football fans at the COSAFA Senior Championships when they registered a first ever win at the regional tournament. They proceeded to hold perennial tormentors, South Africa to a 1-1 draw in a match the local girls could have won. The team’s captain Bonang Otlhagile achieved a 100 caps milestone that she has garnered across different levels of the national teams in the last group fixture. The team had been inactive since last year April and assembled for camp for only two weeks. They also travelled to the regional tournament without a team doctor who stayed behind for personal reasons.
Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, the team’s coach Gaolethoo ‘Ronaldo’ Nkutlwisang cited lack of preparation as the reason the team was knocked out of the tournament.
“We had a poor start. To us the Namibia game was more of a friendly so the Lesotho game was a must win. We fought well in the last two games. It is unfortunate as Zimbabwe qualified (for the semi-final) with five points. From the tournament, we realised that preparations are very important. We will now look at our calendar of events as the technical team and plan for future competitions,” she said.
The BFA technical director, Matshidiso Kowa said the local women’s football is being revamped and is confident of building a stronger national team in the future. “Women football has been on a standstill but it has started moving. We should appreciate what the team has done. Women football is being revamped, for these ladies it was not easy,” he said.