Copperbelt players in action during their Sasol League Championship clash against NWU Tawana Copperbelt players in action during their Sasol League Championship clash against NWU Tawana. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Joburg — Karabo Selabe was filled with mixed emotions after helping Copperbelt Ladies earn automatic promotion to the Hollywoodbets Super League on home soil.
Based in Moletjie Kanana Village, a small town in Limpopo, Copperbelt were established in 2019, the same year the elite Super League got under way.
But they pulled off a master-stroke in their coaching department in 2020, appointing former pro footballer Selabe as the new coach of the team.
With his playing experience, Selabe, who played for Magesi FC before retiring at 24 years of age in 2016 due to niggling injuries, gave the team hope.
But his hard work paid off last year, winning the provincial Sasol League as they qualified for the delayed national champs play-offs early this year.
The delayed national play-offs took place in Durban where Copperbelt failed to qualify for the final and outrightly earn promotion to the Super League.
But they didn’t despair as they were crowned provincial champions again this year, while they had the honour of hosting the national play-off as well.
They grabbed that opportunity with both hands as they qualified for the final to earn promotion and a chance to pocket a cool R200 000 cheque as well.
Speaking after his team’s 2-1 win over NWU Tawana in the semi-final on Friday, Selabe said he was happy and humbled by their achievement thus far.
“We are very happy to earn a promotion.
“It wasn’t easy and we are a young team.
“We’ve done something miraculous,” Selabe said in Polokwane.
“We were written off, but together with those girls, we believed that we can overcome everything here. We are very happy and humbled by this result.”
Winning against the University of Pretoria in Sunday’s final at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium will not be easy for the hosts, given Tuks’ resources.
Coached by Banyana Banyana’s former defender Maude Khumalo, Tuks own a high-performance centre, while they have a team in the PSL as well.
Copperbelt does not have such luxuries though. They are so disadvantaged that they’ve had to train at a gravel stadium at times heading to the play-offs.
“We are a village team, and sponsors are not going to come for village girls. We were even training at a gravel training ground as well,” Selabe explained.
Despite the challenges that comes with women’s football, Selabe wants to further his coaching badges and continue to give back to women’s football.
The 29-year-old, who regards himself as the youngest coach at play-offs, says he wants to start his Caf C coaching licence after obtaining his Caf D licence.
“I am fine with coaching women's football. Those girls are the ones that gave me exposure. When I retired no one believed in me,” Selabe explained.
“I didn’t have a coaching license then. I finished my Caf D licence three months ago, so now I am looking forward to obtaining my Caf C licence.”
Extending his Caf C licence remains a mid-term goal for Selabe who wants to repay the support that’s been shown by their fans in the last few days.
IOL Sport