TALENTED WINGER TAKES OFF TO FRANCE

BY JOSHUA HENDRICKS

FOOTBALL HAS TAKEN NOXOLO CESANE ALL OVER - from the fields of Gugulethu to Pretoria, from UWC to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. And now it’s taking her to France, as the 21-year-old has signed for top-tier French club Stade de Reims.

CESANE FACED MORE THAN HER SHARE OF CHALLENGES while growing up in Gugulethu, including resistance from her family to the notion of girls playing competitive football.

“Growing up, the family didn’t really like the fact that my twin sister Sinoxolo and I were playing soccer,” she recalls. “They wanted us to be more focused on school. But my sister and I loved soccer too much.

“I started playing in a boys’ team and then I was introduced to a ladies’ team called Cape Town Roses. So my sister and I joined the team under current coach Xolile Madikana, who is also a teacher at Lwazi Primary school in Gugulethu.”

BY THE TIME they were twelve, the sisters were playing for the senior team.

“We went to the Sasol Playoffs and I would collect awards every year. We then got scouted by the national under-17 coach, Nombuso Khumalo, to play for the under-17 national team, and we went to go and stay at the HighPerformance Centre in Pretoria. “We stayed, trained and studied at the TuksSport High School, me and my twin sister, for three years. And we learned a lot in that time,” says Noxolo.

AFTER RETURNING TO CAPE TOWN and playing for CT Roses, both sisters were regulars in the under-17 and under-20 national teams until Noxolo got her first call-up to the Banyana Banyana national team.

9 NOXOLO CESANE

BORN: 2000-10-11

COUNTRY: SOUTH AFRICA

NATIONALITY: SOUTH AFRICAN

POSITION: FW (FORWARD)

CURRENT CLUB: STADE DE REIMS

INTERNATIONAL SOUTH AFRICA EXPERIENCE:

“I WAS SO EXCITED, SHOCKED, SCARED AND HAPPY TO GET THAT CALL [from coach Desiree Ellis]. I gained experience from that level, and then we were at UWC. It was the next logical step in our development. They had the facilities and were already playing in the Hollywoodbets Super League.”

Now I get to play with some of the world’s greatest and I’m going to do my best to continue to make my supporters proud.

HER TWIN SISTER transferred the following year to the United States of America to play and study there, but Noxolo thought she could learn just as much at home.

“At UWC I had great facilities and all the equipment to keep me at a good level as a footballer. Then around 2019, I was called up to the COSAFA Cup for Banyana. I continued working hard so that I could get another opportunity to be selected by Coach Desiree, leading up to WAFCON.”

AFTER PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE in the first game in the team’s first WAFCON victory against Nigeria, Noxolo caught the eye of overseas coaches.

“I got a call from the [Stade de Reims] coach while at the WAFCON and basically was interviewed about my strengths and personality. It was a great motivation and amplified a greater belief in my ability.”

It all happened quickly after that as the offer from the top French side was made official soon after Banyana lifted the coveted trophy. Still only 21 years old, Noxolo has signed the two-year contract with Stade de Reims and relocated to Reims, the 2000-year-old city where the French once crowned their kings.

NOXOLO SAYS: “As a person who has never seen Heaven, that was how ridiculous it was. And how huge a moment it was. It was my first time playing at that level, playing at that tournament and then also winning the gold medal! It was amazing. I still think about it – and I still brag about it. I was part of that team that made history! I am history!

“Lifting the Cup, being part of the family and squad that people will talk about for years to come – that’s really amazing. As a history maker, as people call it, a hero! My name is there, and I’m super happy and I’m grateful and I thank God. And now I get to play with some of the world’s greatest and I’m going to do my best to continue to make my supporters proud.”

REFLECTING ON HER EARLY CHALLENGES, and all the help she received over the years to reach the pinnacle of her career, the young winger says: “These opportunities would also not have come without the support and encouragement of everyone in the Banyana Banyana family…The months ahead will be exciting, and a fantastic opportunity for me. To my supporters, the love you show really means a lot. I hope to do you proud.” B+G