Bongi Mpanza, who has died in Johannesburg at the age of 46, was one of the highest-qualified woman soccer coaches in SA, and in Africa.
She helped start a soccer academy at which she coached private school children alongside street children.
Before discovering her talent for coaching relatively late in life, she'd never kicked a ball and knew nothing about the beautiful game.
Mpanza was born in Nquthu, in KwaZulu-Natal, on March 18 1972 and worked in catering before moving to Johannesburg 20 years ago, where she kept the books for the Faraday Taxi Association and opened a restaurant in Bellevue East.
A talented chef, she specialised in traditional African dishes. One of her customers was an amateur soccer player with serious coaching ambitions. He casually suggested she join him on a coaching course. He was surprised when she threw herself into it, boots and all, even more so when she proved to be far better than he was and soon outstripped him.
Seven years ago she approached Sacred Heart College, a private Catholic school in Observatory, Johannesburg, to inquire about a coaching position.
She was offered a job coaching boys at the primary school. When this went well she was asked to start coaching boys and girls at the college. By popular demand she extended her coaching to girls at the primary school as well as boys, and began coaching at the preschool too.
The school saw there was a need for a soccer club to cater for children in the community, so Mpanza helped start Sacred Heart Celtics Football Club, which under her management and driven by her enthusiasm became the Sacred Heart Soccer Academy.
She recruited children from the streets of nearby Yeoville, mostly tough boys from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds. She was a mother to them as well as a coach. After training she would take them to her restaurant and feed them.
She may have been nurturing but she took no nonsense. She made sure they understood they had to be disciplined, well-dressed and punctual. If someone was late for a training session, she sent him away.
She managed the process so well that eventually these rough children from the 'hood were accepted as part of the school community. The academy gave them a structure and something to look forward to.
Mpanza made sure they had the proper kit, often paying out of her own pocket. It gave them pride, she said.
She combined coaching with community work as an executive committee member of the local Sonia Bunting branch of the ANC. She fought crime, organised workshops on children's rights, gave motivational talks at schools and tried to ensure that children were placed in, and continued to attend, local schools.
By the time she died, the aim of the soccer academy had grown beyond coaching to offer scholarships and bursaries.
She also coached at nearby King David School in Linksfield. Her school teams played in the school leagues, and her academy players, male and female up to under-19, played in the North Rand soccer league.
She had a South African Football Association (Safa) A licence and was one of 25 Confederation of African Football A-licensed coaches in SA, the highest coaching qualification on the continent.
At the time of her death she was attending the final course to become a Safa coaching instructor, qualifying her to conduct coaching courses around the country for men and women coaches.
She died shortly after returning from her brother's funeral in KwaZulu-Natal feeling feverish and weak. 
1972-2018..