Kaylin Swart opens up on uncertainty over Desiree Ellis future

Ellis was a notable absentee in their recent camp as they made a final push to qualify for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, with assistant coach Thinasonke Mbuli leading them to a 2-1 aggregate win to book their ticket. 

Swart says they did their best as senior players to shield the younger ones from the tension and uncertainty. 

"Discomfort? No, just a little bit of uncertainty of whether she's coming back or we'll get a new coach, but we never focussed on that, we were always focussed on ourselves," said Swart.

"And we made sure, as the senior leadership group, we really tried to do our part to try and shield the younger ones from any of the difficulties of understanding what was going on.

"I think we did a really good job, so I must give credit to us as a leadership group for really stepping up and making sure the younger ones knew we always had their back no matter what."

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Mbuli, who coaches UWC Ladies in the Hollywoodbets Super League on a full-time basis, managed a 1-1 draw in Kingshasa before Thembi Kgatlana netted late in Dobsonville to secure a 1-0 home win.  

Swart says she too deserves credit for the work she did under the difficult circumstances. 

"I think we've got to give credit to Coach Thina for stepping into that position. It was never going to be easy, but she really tried and I think us as seniors also tried to help her, back her as much as we could," she added.

"And I think it was a great camp, and the fact that we qualified with her is also something she should take a positive from because she contributed a lot.

"So, yeah, I think as a leadership group we've grown a lot, so with where we are now we just need to move forward, and hopefully in the next couple of months we don't have any hiccups and it's just a smooth ride to the next WAFCON."