Their achievements so far are limited, but Banyana Banyana's qualification for the 2012 London Olympics could be the catalyst that drives women's football in SA to new heights.

Huge improvements have been made thanks to increased sponsorship over the past 3½ years, with Sasol fuelling a national league that has changed the landscape of the game.

The advances culminated in victory over Ethiopia in a two-legged Olympic qualifier last year, taking Banyana to a major tournament for the first time since their formation in 1993.

Yet there is a humility about the squad that allows them to view the games as an opportunity for greater things, rather than as an end point.

"We need to go out there and play our hearts out, so that when we come back we have a story to tell," captain Amanda Dlamini said this week.

"If we want to make things happen in women's football, it should start with us."

The squad gathered in Stellenbosch over the past two weeks for a camp that focused on fitness and strength - areas of weakness coach Joseph Mkhonza has highlighted since they were outrun by Equatorial Guinea in extra time of the 2010 Africa Women's Championship semifinal.

Compared with their male counterparts, there appears to be a joy and even an innocence among the squad, as well as an eagerness to learn - something that was evident as a group of largely non-swimmers took to the pool on Thursday for a recovery session.

While some members of the relatively young squad have had to excuse themselves from regular jobs to attend the camp, several others are attending school or university.

Dlamini, who was forced to leave her job as a fitness trainer due to the increasing demands of Banyana, is starting a B-Tech degree this year at the University of Johannesburg.

"We're being asked to do some public speaking these days and we realise people see us as role models rather than just people who play football," she said.

"We need to encourage people to go to school, but we can't just sit there and not go to school [ourselves].

"So a lot of the girls are in school and trying to do something with their lives."

Absentee forms will be circulating again next month when the team travel to the Cyprus Women's Cup.

This is an invitation event that serves as a warm-up for the Olympics.

Banyana, ranked 66th in the world, have been pooled with South Korea (No16), New Zealand (No24) and Northern Ireland (No54) in the 12-team event.

"Most of teams involved in Cyprus are going to the Olympics, so for us it's very important that we go there and gauge our standard," said Mkhonza, who has won 14 out of 18 games since he took over as head coach in December 2010.

"I can't say where we're at until we play them because we've played in Africa and we've qualified, but this is a different level."