What began with accompanying a school’s U19 football team to matches has grown into a promising career in football management for Young Pirates FC team manager Thokozile Miya.
In 2023, Miya was working as a teacher’s assistant at Beverly Hills High School when she began attending the boys’ matches at Qedelizwe High School.
It was there that she discovered Celta Vigo, now known as Celta Academy Evaton, which trained at the same grounds. Her meeting with coach Themba opened the first door in her football journey.
“He told me that he needed an administrator, and I started working with him in January 2024,” Miya said.
Her commitment soon paid off when she was promoted to senior team manager in September 2024.
Three months later, Young Pirates FC approached her with another opportunity. Miya accepted the offer in January 2025 and officially joined the club as team manager the following month.
Her journey has also taken her beyond the touchline and into spaces where women are reshaping South African sport.
In 2024, Miya attended a Discovery Women in Sport workshop in Sandton, where she met women working in sports media, including SuperSport journalists Zenande Funani and Mpho Maboi.
She also attended a South African Women and Sport Foundation conference at the University of Pretoria. There, she met Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis and former South African U17 women’s national team coach Simphiwe Dludlu.
For Miya, these encounters have offered both inspiration and a clearer picture of what is possible for women in the sporting world.
Her rise from the school sidelines to managing a football team reflects the value of showing up, learning and being ready when opportunity arrives. Now at Young Pirates FC, Miya is building her place in a field where more women are stepping forward to lead.
