USSA News Former FISU Games athletes part of winning Womens African Cup of Nations side Saturday, 23 July will be a date etched into the history books for the South African women’s national football team, fondly known as Banyana Banyana, who were crowned champions of Africa for the very first time after winning this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa, which had previously lost five finals - in 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018 - before finally breaking their curse and emerging as 2-1 victors over hosts Morocco in front of a packed 45 000-strong house at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. Heroine of Saturday night’s final was Hildah Magaia, a member of South Africa’s FISU Games team in Napoli in 2019, who scored both goals in the tournament-decider. Captain of the South African team, and the first to proudly hold the winning trophy aloft, was Refiloe Jane who represented her country at three FISU Games, while qualified diagnostic radiographer Kholosa Biyana, a two time FISU World University Games participant, was a second-half substitute in Saturday’s final. Other former university students part of the continent-conquering South African squad include Noko Matlou, Thalea Smidt and former African Player of the Year Thembi Kgatlana, who competed at the Taipei 2017 FISU Games. Very impressive was the fact that 12 members of the victorious 23-women squad had previously played in South Africa’s Varsity Football competition, the annual student-athlete football tournament played among the top universities in the country, with six members of the team having played in last year’s edition of the tournament. Regirl Ngobeni, Bongeka Gamede, Amogelang Motau, Sibulele Holweni and Noxolo Cesane were all part of the victorious University of the Western Cape side that were crowned 2021 Varsity Football Champions, while Nomvula Kgoale featured for the Tshwane University of Technology last year. South African head coach and African Coach of the Year Desiree Ellis hailed the impact university football has had in developing some of the nation’s brightest stars, and now, continental queens. "Varsity Football has been big, I think it’s bridged that gap between club football and international football," she told varsitysportssa.com. "There is a gap, it has bridged that gap because you have the University international games. At one time we had 10 to 11 national team players playing abroad for University teams. So University football has been good for us." Proof that student-athlete sport can propel you to international success! Posted by Fabio De Dominicis on 2022-08-29. Source: