South Africa begin their COSAFA Women’s Championship campaign tomorrow with an opening clash against Malawi at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Ellis says that while the focus is on performing well at COSAFA, preparations for WAFCON remain ongoing.

"It's an alignment camp to prepare for COSAFA but the bigger picture is obviously to prepare for the WAFCON. So, we are using this also to select because there isn't time in between and you know we started early with this alignment camp and it's a good opportunity for us to be here in Limpopo right now just to continue with our preparations. We started a while ago, just to continue with our preparations," Ellis said.

With the regional tournament kicking off, Ellis emphasised that COSAFA will be approached with the respect it deserves, acknowledging its competitiveness and the opportunity it presents to test players under pressure ahead of WAFCON.

"It has always been really decent, I think you look at the Refiloe Jane's, Thembi Kgatlana, Jermaine [Seoposenwe], they all came through this COSAFA Cup and having Zambia and having Malawi as well who are going to the WAFCON, I think they are going to do a similar thing where they use this for preparation to get ready for WAFCON as well and we are doing that as well,” she added.

South Africa have been drawn in Group B alongside Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Tanzania for WAFCON 2026.

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