Netflix will air a documentary on the Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies team and their quest to win the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League in 2021.
The documentary is titled Banyana ba Style, Sundowns Ladies’ nickname.
“A Mamelodi Sundowns documentary, ‘Banyana ba Style [The Ladies With Style]’, will be featured on Netflix from 22 November,” Sundowns said in a statement. “The documentary follows the Mamelodi Sundowns women’s team as they fight to become the first queens of the CAF Women’s Champions League in 2021, while shining a spotlight on the battle for gender equality, the vulnerabilities of life’s challenges and family responsibilities, and heartfelt human connections. This story of grit and perseverance follows the team’s incredible journey through the eyes of several team members, including coach Jerry Tshabalala and Mamelodi Sundowns chair Tlhopie Motsepe. The film was a personal project of Motsepe.”
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Motsepe said the film was made partly to highlight the challenges faced by women footballers and athletes.
“We embarked on this journey for two reasons: the first was to promote women’s football and inspire future generations of female footballers in Africa. The second was to use the power of storytelling to touch on the challenges female soccer players face and encourage new sponsors to come into the market and galvanise the women’s game,” he said. “Credit must go to our women’s team players for their spirit and amazing personalities, and Fell and Co for producing the film; and of course, to Netflix and Roc Nation Sports International for sharing this unique African sports story with the world.”
Lori York, Executive Vice-President for TV & Film at Roc Nation, the international agency that has a consulting partnership with Sundowns and that facilitated the licensing of the documentary to Netflix, said the film could inspire female athletes.
“We are proud to have facilitated the licensing of this film to enable a whole new audience of Netflix viewers to gain access to the special story of the Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies team,” York said. “They have been trailblazers on the women’s football scene and sharing their story offers the potential to inspire so many more female athletes around the world.”
Sundowns Ladies won the first edition of the Women’s Champions League in Egypt in 2021, beating Ghana’s Hasaacas Ladies in the final in Cairo. They lost in the final last year to AS FAR of Morocco.
They recently reached their third Champions League final in succession by beating AS FAR in Korhogo, Ivory Coast.
They meet another Moroccan side, Sporting Casablanca, in the final at the same venue on 19 November.
