The TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is currently underway in Morocco; the women’s continental showpiece will run from 5-26 July 2025. The tournament promises to be the most competitive yet, with 12 nations vying for continental glory and Olympic qualification. Although the Brave Gladiators won’t feature at this year’s edition,four Namibian women are part of the staff at the WAFCON.
NFA Technical Director, Jacqueline Shipanga is part of the Technical Study Program (TSG), Helvi Eliakim and Juanita Gowases are General Coordinators (GC) while Namibian referee, Antsino Twanyanyukwa will be officiating at the games.
Jacqueline Shipanga – NFA Technical Director
Former Brave Gladiators player and coach ,Shipanga is also a certified NFA, CAF and FIFA coaching instructor. Shipanga is the technical director of the NFA, the only woman to occupy the role in the continent currently. She attended the FIFA Technical Leadership Diploma hosted in Brazil in 2023. Shipanga has been an influential figure in developing women football in Namibia.
Helvi Eliakim – NFA Competitions Officer
Eliakim is a former Gladiators defender and started her GC journey at the FNB Women Super Leagues before receiving call ups to COSAFA and eventually making it through the CAF ranks. She is skilled in project management and was the team manager of the Brave Warriors for the past two years.
Lorraine Gowases – NFA League’s Administrator
Lorraine was amongst the first trained GC’s in the country – she started from the lower competitions like the U20 Namibian Newspaper Cup and moved up to the top tier leagues. She has been a COSAFA GC since 2022,she attended the COSAFA Women’s Leadership program in 2021 and is highly competent in her administrative role as the League’s Administrator.
Antsino Twanyanukwa – Namibian Referee
“Di Maria” as she is famously known is no stranger to regional and continental football. Her career highlight was in 2024 when she officiated at the Maurice Revello Tournament in France. Antsino has officiated at the COSAFA Women’s championship, the WAFCON qualifiers and FIFA Women World Cup qualifiers as well.
Namibia has come a long way in developing women football including increasing access to football for girls and women while ensuring mass participation nationwide for all levels of the game,improving the quality of national teams and ensuring competent and adequate representation of women’s football at an executive level and leadership positions at this year’s edition.
The NFA remains committed to fostering the development of women football in the country.