The 2024 COSAFA Women’s Leadership Programme (CWLP) has seen its latest graduates complete the three-month course on Wednesday with newly-gained knowledge to take back to their respective countries.

It is the fourth year in a row the CWLP has been run to boost the administrative capacity of women from COSAFA Member Associations, and beyond, and proved hugely successful again.

There were 12 sessions with topics such as Developing a Personal Leadership Philosophy, Stakeholder Management, Mastering the art of Negotiation, Strategic Management and Marketing and Branding.

But also topics that are equally important in the workplace, like Cultivating Culture, Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution.

Each participant completed a presentation based on the skills they had acquired and the vision they had for making a positive change for women’s football in their country.

The top three were chosen for their concepts and the proposed implementation of their plans.

Amogelang Kgogwane from the Botswana Football Association had her presentation selected as the winner, which was based on ‘Developing a long-term strategic plan for women’s football in Botswana’.

Marie Véronique Grégoire from Mauritius chose a similar theme for football in her country and also presented a thorough and detailed proposal that caught the eye of the facilitators.

S. Irina da Costa laid out a plan for women’s football in Angola, taking into account the particular environment in that country, which was well received.

The course was again a hugely popular addition to COSAFA’s educational initiatives this year and continues to be a major driver of the development and growth of the women’s game in the region.