Born in Tsakane, the young woman started playing soccer at 10 years of age and has never looked back.
She kick-started her soccer journey playing for Barcelona Football Club, even though, she says, at the time there were other sports she enjoyed, such as athletics.
“At that time my club was on the same street as home, so when I would see boys going to train I’d join them,” she explains.
“Then, in 2008, after matric, I played for Gloria Women Sports Academy in Tsakane at their Regional League.
“While playing there, I soon discovered I could lead as a captain, coach and team manager to grow in the sport.”
Two years later, as she was playing in the second season, Motsoagae was approached by SAFA Ekurhuleni to join the Women’s Football Executive Committee.
“This was huge for me as, before that time, though there had been women’s leagues that had been running, there was no committee for women,” she says.
“This was an opportunity for me to grow, as I was able to be a part of the first team of women to be on this committee, while also being the youngest.”
The youngster continue to play but, seeking growth, she also started coaching, and then retired as a player, last year.
“I wanted to help in the development of other young girls and also felt I could not make a living as a woman soccer player, as there is a huge lack of professional leagues for us.
“We have only the Regional and Sasol Leagues which is a huge challenge and frustration.
“Further, women in soccer still get paid way less than the men,” she adds.
Last year Motsoagae took her career a step further, obtaining her licence D certificate from SAFA.
And that opened more doors as, shortly after that, she was approached by SAFA Gauteng to coach their provincial squad of u/13 girls, who would compete in the Nelson Mandela National Tournament.
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“Gauteng hosted this tournament prior to the official Mandela Challenge and all nine provinces were represented,” she says.
“This was a great experience and a huge honour for me, as it meant these people had seen something in me.
“At that stage I was competing against four women coaches, while the rest were men, and our girls did well, they kept winning when playing against other provinces.
“I think at that point our greatest secret weapon was that I could understand them on and off the field, as a young person.
“We became a family and I encouraged, pushed and helped them work hard.”
This lead to the Gauteng team winning the tournament.
“This was and still is my biggest award, which I obtained exactly a year ago.
“After this seeing what I was able to achieve, it encouraged me to start and coach my own team, called Nelly Stars.
“The team is doing well and I am also training further, so I can ref locally, in Local Football Association, Sasol and the SAB Leagues.
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“My ultimate goal for now, however, is to be able to ref for CAF and the UEFA Champions League.”
Motsoagae would love to see soccer grow on the women’s side, but she believes sponsors aren’t interested in it currently, as they don’t see a future in the sport for women in our country.
“The challenge is that we are still sometimes overlooked, which is demotivating, though there are women who would like to far with the sport.
“I still encourage young girls to do it as, through soccer, I have experienced a lot of things and was able to obtain my Diploma in Financial Management, which I completed in 2014, at the University of Johannesburg.
“I am also busy completing a certificate in sports management with Unisa,” she says.
Motsoagae pleads with parents to allow their children to participate in community activities because, she says, today’s lifestyle is very fast and young people end up doing wrong things.
However, through sports, she believes they won’t have a lot of time on their hands to get into trouble.
