South Africa’s most decorated women’s football coach, Jerry Tshabalala, has opened up on his debut season in North Africa, admitting that while the Moroccan Women’s Championship D1 presented immense challenges, he is deeply satisfied with his achievements.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies mentor moved to Morocco last July to take the reins at Sporting Club Casablanca, navigating a demanding tactical transition in one of the continent’s fastest-growing leagues. Tshabalala had been with his previous club, Sundowns, for 12 years, where he won five Hollywoodbets Super League titles and two CAF Women’s Champions League trophies.
He led his side, SC Casablanca, to seventh position on the Championship D1 table, after securing eight wins from 22 matches. Reigning Champions League holders, AS FAR Women, won the league title after an impressive 19 victories throughout the league.
Tshabalala says leading a new team in a new country hasn’t been the easiest. “It was a very challenging season, considering where I come from, where I was used to winning the league season in and season out,” Tshabalala told FARPost.
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“But when I got to Morocco, it was a different challenge. I had to deal with a new team, a team with a different vision compared to where I come from. When I started with the team, they had released about 13 players from the squad. I came across a team that was building and restructuring, where they bought a lot of youngsters. I think it’s something which aligns with my philosophy because they know I believe in youngsters.
“Obviously, it was going to be a bit of a mountain to climb for all of us, be the technical team, be the players. The new players needed to adapt to the style of play of the coach, the coach needing to adapt to the culture and the way things are done in a different country. It was a really challenging season for me,” he added.
Tshabalala is confident that his side can improve next season. The tactician has already set his sights on challenging the established heavyweights of North African women’s football, emphasising that a club of Sporting Club Casablanca’s stature should always be fighting at the top of the table.
“We finished seventh, and for me, that was totally unacceptable, finishing outside of the top five. But as bad as the season was, there are a lot of positives to take. I think if we can build on the performance of the second round, we will have a very good opportunity to compete next season. I am targeting to finish second; I need to be realistic, but my target is to finish second. There are a lot of reasons we want to finish second. There are about four very good teams, and we are also known to be one of the top teams,” he explained.
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‘Kappa’ who has been coaching women’s football since 2009, believes that South Africa is lagging behind in terms of the growth of the women’s game. Although the SA Football Association [SAFA] launched the Super League in 2019, the country still doesn’t have a professional league. The former Detroit Ladies coach believes can learn from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.
“I think women’s football in Morocco is growing very quickly compared to South Africa. This past season, the league was professionalised. It is a professional league. You don’t have players that go to work and come back [to train]. It is a professional league of 12 teams. One would say we are regressing instead of progressing; countries like Morocco are progressing very fast.
“When you look at the structure of their league, they have got first division, second division, third division, and they have an amateur league too. All the players in the first division are getting paid. The Moroccan Federation plays a huge role in improving women’s football in Morocco,” he declared.
Written by Busisiwe Mokwena.
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