Kempton pool veteran named Ladies League Player of the Year

After 46 years at the cue, Kempton Park resident Wilma Matthee has shown she’s far from slowing down. At the 2025 Eastern Gauteng Pool Association (EGPA) prize-giving last week, she was named Ladies League Player of the Year.

Many at the event couldn’t believe she was 65 years old.

“Most people don’t know my age,” she said.

“When I tell them I’m extremely grateful for this award at 65, they can’t believe it. They look at the young ones, then look at me.”

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Matthee picked up her first cue at 19, sneaking into hotel bars in the 1970s, where women were not permitted.

“I always had to pretend to be the boss’s wife,” she said.

It was worth it, because she regularly won the Saturday competitions, often walking away with half a lamb.

After a few years’ break, she found herself back at a table through a chance game with a church acquaintance.

She beat him, and after his children teased him mercilessly, he referred her to trials for the first SA Ladies Nationals in 1990.

She made the A Team and never looked back.

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“I have never played in a B Division in my life,” she said.

Over the next three decades, her competitive streak and natural talent pushed her to elite heights. She represented South Africa at seven World Championships, once ranked 11th in the world, and was selected for the national team for 22 consecutive years.

“The more I won, the more I wanted to win,” she said. “I’m extremely competitive; in anything I take on, I must be the best.”

Renowned snooker player Arthur Heyes, who coached her in the 90s and helped her break into the sport’s top tier, shaped her growth.

Since 1992, she has consistently ranked among the country’s top eight women, earning Springbok, All Stars, Protea, and Pool South Africa colours as the sport’s structures evolved.

One of her proudest memories remains her first national title in 1995, taken in a nail-biting final. Trailing 4-3, she levelled the match after her opponent missed a black ball, then clinched the final frame to become the South African champion. She successfully defended her title the following year.

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“A match I will never forget was a league final against the number two seed,” she added.

“I wore my EGPA waistcoat and bowtie, and I felt smart. When you feel smart, you play smart; that’s my motto.”

Among her many accolades, one stands out above all: Most Outstanding Player of the Year, awarded in the late 90s/early 2000s. Traditionally won by men, it was the final and most prestigious award of the night.

“When the chairperson started describing the winner as ‘feared by most men and lady players’, I never imagined he meant me,” she says. “When he called my name, I was in tears.”

She also bagged the Player of the Millennium award in 2000.

Her passion is far from fading, even though her back and an old foot injury sometimes make her consider hanging up her cue.

“Then I go to league or trials, and I shoot the young ones broken,” she said. And I think, nah, I can’t stop yet.”

She continues to coach and encourage new players, especially young women.

“If you have natural talent, you’ll go far. But I always say this: no matter what sport you play, you will never get to the top with alcohol.”

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While she says the sport remains male-dominated and the pay gap between men and women persists at the national and international levels, she remains undeterred.

Her family and friends support her wholeheartedly. After posting her prize-giving photo on Facebook, messages flooded in, even from cousins she hadn’t spoken to in years.

One relative, her aunt, insisted she contact Kempton Express because she was “too proud not to share it”.

Looking ahead, Matthee still dreams of attending one more World Championship. She was selected two years ago but lost the chance when sponsorships fell through, and the national women’s team was withdrawn.

“I was shattered,” she said. “It was supposed to be my last one.”

“So now I’ll have to try again in 2026. But I’m getting old; I will have to dig deep,” she added.