Simphiwe Mendy Dludlu (born 21 September 1987) is South African professional

soccer manager In association football, the manager is the person who runs a football club or a national team. They have wide-ranging responsibilities, including selecting the team, choosing the tactics, recruiting and transferring players, negotiating pl ...

and former player. Dludlu has been the Head Coach of the South African women's national U/17 team since 2017. She led the team to their second

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA). The tournament is held in even-numbered y ...

qualification in 2018 which was hosted in Uruguay.

Early life

Dludlu attended TuksSport High School. In 2007, she began studies at

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

and graduated with a Sports Science degree in 2012.

Club career

At a club level, Dludlu played as a defender for

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football l ...

. In football circles, she was nicknamed "Shorty".

International career

Dludlu made her first appearance for the South Africa senior national team in 2006 during a match against

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. She was the captain of the South African women's national team between 2009 and 2010. In May 2014, Dludlu made her 50th cap for the South Africa senior team during a friendly match against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. In September 2014, she was named to the roster in preparation for the

2014 African Women's Championship The 2014 African Women's Championship, the 11th edition of the tournament, was held in Namibia. This tournament, organized by the Confederation of African Football, was also a qualification tournament for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, with top t ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. She announced her retirement from international football in March 2014, aspiring to pursue a career in coaching instead. She finished her playing career for the South African team on 63 caps.

Coaching career

Upon graduating from the University of Pretoria in 2012, she became coach of the university women's football team, playing in the University Sports South Africa (USSA) leagues. In her first two years with the team, they reached the final of the USSA Football National Club Championships. In May 2013, Dludlu earned a UEFA B Licence coaching certificate. Alongside other former South African women's internationals, she is a scout for the

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

NXT Level programme.She was also the coach of the

Tshwane University of Technology Tshwane University of Technology (TUT; af, Tshwane-Universiteit vir Tegnologie) is a higher education institution in South Africa that came into being through a merger of three technikons — Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West and ...

women's high performance soccer team. Currently, Dludlu is coaching the South African women's national U/17 team and qualified for the 2018 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay. In 2022, she was tasked with selecting a South Africa women's national team, the A team coached by

Desiree Ellis Desiree Ellis (born 14 March 1963) is a South African soccer manager and former player. She currently coaches the South Africa women's national team. She is a founding member of the ''Banyana Banyana'' and the second captain of the national te ...

was taking part in a series of friendly matches with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and could not participate, for the

2022 COSAFA Women's Championship The 2022 COSAFA Women's Championship is the 10th edition of the COSAFA Women's Championship, a women's international football tournament for national teams organised by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations, COSAFA, teams from Southern A ...

. Her team won a silver medal at the tournament losing out to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

1-0 in the final.

Honours

Managerial South Africa *

COSAFA Women's Championship The COSAFA Women's Championship is an association football tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). South Africa have won the most titles with seven wins. Zimbabwe won the ...

: runner up:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

South Africa player profile
1987 births Living people People from Alexandra, Gauteng Women's association football defenders South African women's soccer players South Africa women's international soccer players Soccer players from Gauteng {{SouthAfrica-women-footy-bio-stub South African soccer managers Female association football managers South Africa women's national soccer team managers