Making a career out of playing football in South Africa remains a massive challenge for women, writes Banyana Banyana captain JANINE VAN WYK in SoccerClub magazine.

If I look back at the women’s game from five years ago, the landscape has changed completely. A lot of credit must go to our sponsor, Sasol. They believe in our abilities and you can see they want to make a difference in women’s football.

The game, the exposure and the treatment of the players has changed considerably. Not many people knew about female footballers, but now those same people are taking their daughters to watch and play the beautiful game.

The support we get from our association, Safa, and Sasol, has been phenomenal and they deserve a lot more credit. Many people might think they aren’t doing much for women’s football in this country, but they are the only ones who are trying to give it more exposure and market it in a way for people to recognise the sport.

But there still remains a massive challenge for women to make a career out of playing football in South Africa, as we don’t have a fully functional professional league yet.

It’s tough, but it’s a testimony to our talent that we’re able to compete against countries with established professional leagues and development structures.

We’ll continue to work hard and carry the belief that one day the necessary building blocks will be in place to be able to make a career from playing the sport we love.

– This article first appeared in issue 70 of SoccerClub magazine.