Janine van Wyk looks back at 2016 with pride while anticipating bigger and better things in 2017. This year the Banyana Banyana captain became the most capped South African footballer of all time, male or female, after she eclipsed Portia Modise’s record of 124 appearances in April.
Four months later she became a two-time Olympian when she took part in her second successive Games.
This time as captain at the spiritual home of football, Brazil. Banyana didn’t make much of an impact in that tournament, returning without a goal, and finished outside the top three in the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWC) in Cameroon.
Despite that, Van Wyk, pictured, did enough to make the top five nominees for CAF’s women’s Footballer of the Year award and earn a professional contract with US club Houston Dash. The cherry on the top was seeing her club, JVW FC, reach the Sasol League National Championship after winning the Gauteng League. In their first appearance in the championships, JVW returned with a silver medal.
“This has been a perfect year for me,” Van Wyk said.
“I am excited about the journey I will embark next year. There were some ups and downs but it’s been a fantastic year. I am in awe of what I have achieved. I worked hard to get here and it has paid off. When we went to the Olympics, the plan was to do better than what we did in London four years ago. I think we achieved that because if we didn’t show that we are a good team, we wouldn’t have been invited by France to play a friendly against them.”
That friendly will be in France’s territory, Reunion, on January 22. It will be Banyana’s third friendly with a high-profile nation in less than a year.
To prepare for the Olympics, Banyana played two friendlies against Netherlands and the US. Roxanne Barker signed a professional contract for Dutch side SC Heerenveen after the friendly in Netherlands.
Houston Dash started negotiating with Van Wyk after she impressed against the US. That’s why, Van Wyk argues, these friendlies could be a short-cut for Banyana players to achieve their dream of playing abroad.
“You never know who is watching, that’s why you have to bring your A-game always,” Van Wyk said.
“There is plenty of talent in South Africa, we just lack exposure. These games expose us to markets that wouldn’t ordinarily look at us. In my opinion, the US league is the best in the world, going there will make me grow as a player and as a person.”
When Van Wyk turns 30 next year in April, she would have spent a month in the US with her new club. Her age - flirting with 30, considered a slippery slope to being discarded in football - was used against Van Wyk in the aftermath of Banyana’s unsuccessful AWC campaign.
She was asked if, at 29, she had enough engine in her legs to lead the side to the 2020 Olympics which will be preceded by the 2018 AWC in Ghana and the 2019 World Cup in France.
“I believe this move came at the right time, especially when you consider my age and the experience I have gained,” Van Wyk said.
“When you’re a youngster you think about a lot of things concerning such moves. I know that this is my last chance to make it at 29, even though I think I have five to six more years to give.
“But getting this nod is a huge confidence booster. I know I am going there not only to represent myself but the entire country. I have to make my mark and open doors for other South African players.”