First team
The Blue Diamonds beef up coaching team
Jan
The Blue Diamonds have beefed up their Coaching department ahead of the 2024 Hollywoodbets Super League Season, adding Van Wyk to the technical team.
Following her retirement from football, former Banyana Banyana Captain and JVW Co-Founder has taken on a new role in her club. Janine Van Wyk ended her illustrious career on home soil with the Blue Diamonds at the end of 2023.
Van Wyk was able to add to her National team accolades, shortly before her final match in the Hollywoodbets super league, by becoming the highest capped player in Africa (185 Appearances), a record held by Egypt’s Hassan since 2012. The defender clocked in 39 minutes in the away leg against Burkina Faso and said her final goodbyes in the 7th minute of the return leg at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The avid defender leaves the game on a good note with many memories. We highlight just a couple of her stand out achievements, as she turns to focus on the technical side of the game. Notably, Van Wyk appeared in back to back Olympic Games, led the National team at their debut Women’s World Cup in 2019 and lifted the trophy in a historic final match at the 2022 WAFCON. Janine missed out on the 2023 WWC due to an injury concern, but had the opportunity to break the African Record in her final match for Banyana Banyana.
With the focus now on coaching, Van Wyk has acquired the assistant coach role of the of the JVW first team. Working with former team mate Unathi Mabena, they will both feature under Head Coach Mitch Stevens.
Janine holds both CAF B and UEFA B license and a wealth of experience, and will add tremendous value to the First Team.
Mabena adds UEFA B license to her name
Unathi Mabena added another accolade to her name after receiving her UEFA B license earlier this month. She was under the guidance of Mitch Stevens as an assistant coach during the 2023 HWB season. The team finished in third position.
Mabena has been a valuable member of the club. She won the 2019 Sasol Championship and was promoted to the Hollywoodbets Super League as a player. Not only a player, Mabena also gained experience in the coaching department at the club.
Unathi made her mark in the South African national team setup last year. She was appointed as an assistant for the U17 National Team, who travelled to Morocco in November last year. She has now joined the U17 team as a video analyst for the WC qualifying camp.
The Blue Diamonds report to training this week to prepare for the upcoming season.
