Women keep fit on soccer pitch
Mashimbye owns an older women's football club called Hanyani Vakhegula FC, which she started with the aim to promote sport among older women in her village.
“PLAYING soccer helps us to exercise and socialise. As older women, we hardly have time to do anything due to family responsibilities,” explained Jeanette Mashimbye of Thomo village.
Mashimbye owns an older women’s football club called Hanyani Vakhegula FC, which she started with the aim to promote sport among older women in her village.
Speaking on Saturday during a women’s football tournament, which she had organised in her village, Mashimbye said she aimed to start an older women’s soccer league.
“We have been talking with some people from the Premier Soccer League to see if they could start a soccer league for older women because the current league only caters for younger women,” she said.
The tournament attracted soccer teams from as far as Tzaneen, Phalaborwa, and Malamulele. Mbebula FC were crowned the winners and they walked away with R800, followed by Xamfana FC, who received R500, while the host team, Hanyani Vakhegula received R300.
According to Mashimbye, the prizes were generated by the teams themselves through joining fees. “For a team to play in this tournament, they needed to pay a joining fee of R300, which was used for the prizes,” she explained.
“When we planned the tournament, there were more than 20 teams that wanted to participate and we had scheduled the tournament to last for two days, however, the teams were reduced to six teams because others could not afford the joining fee,” she said, appealing to government to support their initiative.
“I’m sure with government’s support we will see more women coming on-board to join us, which would not only promote social cohesion, but would also motivate young people to participate in sport,” she said.
