Blowing male barriers down
ALEXANDRA – Florence Moshupya was one of the 'leading ladies' who put up her hand and answered the call from the association.
A football milestone has been accomplished in the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association after a woman broke down the male barriers to become the association’s first female referee.
Florence Moshupya was one of the ‘leading ladies’ who put up her hand and answered the call from the association when it put out the word urging women who were interested in refereeing to come forward.
The 26-year-old Limpopo-born Alex resident obtained her Association Badge after completing a month-long theoretical and practical referee course.
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Born in Ga-Matlala and matriculating at Kgoke Secondary in 2010, Moshupya, who is also a second-year civil engineering student at Unisa in Pretoria, cannot wait to obtain her ultimate refereeing badge, the Fifa Badge.
“This is the highest refereeing badge under the sun, which not only allows one to referee in top leagues of the world, including South Africa’s own Premier Soccer League, but in international matches as well such as the prestigious Fifa World Cup,” she said.
“I would like to see myself there one day, but I have to start here at home and work my way up the rungs of development to National First Division, which then opens the doors to the Absa Premiership under the Premier Soccer League.”
Moshupya currently handles matches under the Alex association’s jurisdiction, one of which is the Promotional League, which is a stepping stone to the South African Football Association (Safa) Promotional League. She also handles other matches under Safa’s jurisdiction such as the Safa Promotional League, the SAB League, the ABC Motsepe League and the Sasol Women’s League.
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After cutting her football teeth as a player for her primary school team, Moshupya joined the Dream Team Ladies FC in Mamelodi outside Pretoria before moving over to join Silver Spears in Vosloorus, which was founded and coached by the famous blind mentor, Dumisani Ntombela.
It was after her football career that she decided to become a referee and hopes to become one of the country’s top woman referees. “Success lies in being patient, hard-working and disciplined. These are crucial elements for success.”
The secretary-general of the Alex association, Mafika Morajane has also appealed to other women interested in being trained as coaches, referees or joining the administrative side of football to approach the association.
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