Hope City Giants make history
ALEXANDRA - Alex United Football Club has made a coaching history by being the first male soccer outfit in South Africa and indeed the world to appoint a female manager.
Alex United Football Club has made coaching history by being the first male soccer outfit in South Africa, and indeed the world, to appoint a female manager.
Tracy-Lee Pepper, considered to be one of the best female coaches in the country after passing her coaching courses in Germany with flying colours, has been given a one- season contract by the Hope City Giants, as United is affectionately known by its loyal fans in Alexandra.
Her immediate assignment involves ensuring that the club qualifies for the National First Division in the coming season of the newly-formed ABC Motsepe League, which replaced the then Safa Second Division.
The Safa Second Division only lived for a single season after it too replaced the long-standing Vodacom League.
Having made history herself by being the first female coach to take on a male soccer team, Pepper is expected to write another piece of history by becoming the first coach to take the side to the National First Division after numerous attempts by her various male counterparts in as many years.
After winning the ABC Motsepe League, the team will then go into play-offs which will decide who qualifies and gets promoted to the National First Division from clubs in the two streams of the ABC Motsepe League, and two that will have been relegated from the National First Division.
This too has been added as yet another performance measure for this 50-year-old mentor, who has been part of United’s technical staff as their physical trainer for the past two seasons.
“I am up to the challenge,” said Pepper, a no-nonsense task master who runs a squad of 29 players, although she prefers a smaller one, that she says would be easier to manage. “I have to take into consideration many factors as well, such as injuries to players, loss of form and other personal affairs that may impact on their availability.”
Asked how the players had accepted her appointment, Pepper said the players are also up for the challenge to ensure the team wins the league and the play-offs to ultimately gain promotion.
“I have shared my mandate with them and explained that it was not just my vision but our collective responsibility to make sure the club moves from this current league to another level.
“We respect one another and accept that we all have our own part to play in ensuring success. The atmosphere at the club is good and the attitude is excellent, and this, coupled with the players’ winning mentality, can surely yield the desired results,” she said.
