Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis and former technical advisor Shilene Booysen are the two mentors from Africa in FIFA’s New Coach Mentorship Programme which kicked off in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Program will see young female coaches learn from the best in the new edition of the Elite Performance : Coach Mentorship Programme.
The Programme has paired 20 of the game’s most accomplished coaches with talented women from around the world
Current women’s national team coaches are among the mentors as well as three FIFA Women’s World Cup™ winners are also taking part in the current edition.
The initiative aimed at empowering the next generation of female coaches.
The 18-month programme matches highly experienced coaches with those closer to the start of their coaching journey.
FIFA’s creative and innovative approach has already seen dozens of coaches kick-start their careers thanks to the knowledge they have collected on the journey during the past two editions of the programme.
The mentors include current national team coaches Arthur Elias (Brazil), Desiree Ellis (South Africa), Francisco Neto (Portugal), Joe Montemurro (Australia), Nils Nielsen (Japan) and Angelo Marsiglia (Colombia) as well as names synonymous with the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, such as Tina Theune (Germany), Even Pellerud (Norway) and Corinne Diacre (France).
In addition to providing talented coaches with world-class mentors, the programme also aims to help female coaches achieve greater results in their current positions, offer coaching guidance and support on career development, and create a global community of female coaches.
Included in the programme are three in-person workshops, online mentoring sessions and up to five exchange visits between mentor and mentee.
Kenyan Mildred Cheche who is one of the mentees took to X (Twitter) to thank the World football governing body, FIFA for the privilege to be part of this prestigious program.
“Privileged to be selected and be part of the FIFA Elite Performance Coach Mentorship Program in Zurich, Switzerland that plays a crucial role in the development of coaches. Thank you to FIFA and Football Kenya Federation for supporting the growth of upcoming women coaches.”
Booysen believes this is a huge opportunity for her to give back by way of mentoring someone.
“It is a huge opportunity for me to share. How can I give back to the game? How can I provide information to the next generation of coaches? I think this is a huge opportunity for me to be able to just mentor someone. I have spoken about this before where I have mentored lots of coaches and I am still mentoring a few coaches, but the point now is that I am doing it in an official capacity,” she said.
“It is going to be a huge opportunity to see what the viability is of mentoring more coaches on this platform whether it is on analysis or coaching, goalkeeping, just the general game and the global stage that I have been on in order to give some of that experience to the next generation.”
Booysen is full of praise for Cheche who she feels will grow into one of Kenya’s biggest exports.
“I have had a few conversations with Mildred [Cheche] even though she is not my mentee and I see the drive in her that she has the experience of now having been at a World Cup but to nurture and develop youth players is her passion. I think, also, that she is going to grow into one of Kenya’s biggest exports and I think that her coaching ability is second to none,” she said.
“We have seen it on the big stage. We have seen it in Kenya and in Africa. I think what is going to play a huge role is her mentorship, to be mentored and put on a stage where she can glow. I think that she has already shown that she has the ability to coach. I think there are a lot of areas within her person that she can grow.”
“And when we spoke about it, I think one of the things that stood out for me is her passion for youth football. And how she is just so much in love with the Kenyan game and how she can make those players better. So, that is going to be defining her, who she is but also I said to her, “don’t stay in a bubble and just think that, that is it for you” because the stage is big, the world is out there and if you can find opportunities to grow yourself and the players that you are obviously developing then do it because I think that global competitions is where she excels,” She added.
Four African coaches are involved in this incredible programme including:
- Desiree Ellis (South Africa) as a mentor – Mildred Cheche (Kenya) as her mentee
- Shilene Booysen (South Africa) as a mentor – Selamawit Kebede (Ethiopian and coaching Liberia as a mentee on the program.
- Chris Yip-Au (of Singaporean origin who coaches Seychelles) as a mentee
List of formed pairs of Mentors and Mentees
| Tracey Kevins (USA) | Alana Gunn (NZL) |
| Tina Theune (GER) | Manuela Tesse (MLT) |
| Corinne Diacre (FRA) | Lauren Smith (ENG) |
| Asako Takemoto (JPN) | Carrie Kveton (USA) |
| Mo Marley (ENG) | Najd Almejaish (KSA) |
| Even Pellerud (NOR) | Melanie Behringer (GER) |
| Nils Nielsen (DEN) | Faye Chambers (AUS) |
| Joe Montemurro (AUS) | Katie Collar (CAN) |
| Simone Jatoba (BRA) | Delphine Soret (TAH) |
| Laura Harvey (USA) | Gail Redmond (NIR) |
| Vicky Linton (AUS) | Chris Yip-Au (SEY) |
| Arthur Elias (BRA) | Vanessa Martinez (MEX) |
| Iraia Iturregi (ESP) | Emily Lima (PER) |
| Desiree Ellis (RSA) | Mildred Omari Cheche (KEN) |
| Francisco Neto (POR) | Camilla Orlando (BRA) |
| Shilene Booysen (RSA) | Selamawit Zebede (LBR) |
| Ángelo Marsiglia (COL) | Ana Patricia Aguilar Córdoba (CRC) |
| Pedro Martinez Losa (ESP) | Nazlı Ceylan Demirbağ (TUR) |
| Vlakto Andonovski (USA) | Helenna Hercigonja-Moulton (CRO) |
| Jonas Eidval (SWE) | Ma Xiaoxu (CHN) |
