FootGolf player Vuyiswa Ntombela is passionate about growing the sport in South Africa. Picture: Supplied
Vuyiswa Ntombela needed a hobby and she found FootGolf. What she didn’t expect was representing South Africa at the sport’s World Cup only a year after picking up the little-known sport.
“Little did I know it will become a professional thing. I’ve been playing for a year, my first official local tournament was last year in July, where I came out position 2 in the women category and that qualified me to go to the World Cup,” Ntombela tells The Citizen.
The 31-year-old from Katlehong, in Ekurhuleni, just returned from Florida in the US, where she together with her team, represented South Africa at the FootGolf World Cup earlier this month.
“This was my first FootGolf World Cup. South Africa is the first African country to participate in a FootGolf World Cup,” shares Ntombela.
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FootGolf is a sport in which players kick a football into a whole in as few shots as possible. The name is a combination of football and golf, being more closely related to golf.
The recent tournament was the fourth FootGolf World Cup. The wholes are 21-inches in diameter.
FootGolf can be played as a single, twosome, or foursome. Larger groups can tee off one after another, depending on the tee sheet and the course rules.
The sport is played with a normal soccer ball and the duration of the game varies. A standard 9 holes takes anywhere from 60-90 minutes and 18 holes may take anywhere from 2 to 2.5 hours.
“FootGolf in SA is still small compared to other countries. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to attract people to come and join us including sponsorships, but as Norman Mphake (president) always says, we are the ambassadors of the sport so it is all up to us to teach and inspire people to be part of FootGolf,” says Ntombela.
The Citizen‘s attempts to get commenet from FootGolf South Africa president Norman Mphake were unsuccessful.
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This was Nombela’s first time competing at a World Cup and she enjoyed her time at the tournament, where she was the highest performing female in the South African team.
“It was amazing, I learnt a lot from it including what’s important when you kick, and the ball you use plays a huge role in your game. Making friends from different countries.
It was also beautiful to witness the culture of FootGolf which is people playing as families/couples and exchanging t-shirts at the end of the games,” Ntombela says.
She is a fashion stylist and a project manager at a creative agency and plays FootGolf on weekends.
“It has boosted my confidence in the sport and it has made me want to better my game by training more on how to putt,” she says of her performance at the World Cup.
Outside of the FootGolf tournament, Ntombela says she enjoyed her time in Florida. “I was in Florida for two weeks and what stood out for me is the beautiful cars I saw each and every day, different Teslas charging at the stations and there’s a Toyota Camry with 4 pipes that I saw frequently which I won’t forget,” shares Ntombela.
“I was surprised at how cars fascinated me because I’m not really a fan of cars and I started to think maybe it’s because I’m not exposed to beautiful cars that much.”
Argentina, France, Great Britain and Mexico are the highest ranked countries in the sport. Mzansi still has a long way to go and Ntombela wants to see participation from more South Africans.
“I would like to see families becoming part of this, more women playing and FootGolf South Africa partnering with more golf courses in order for people to have access compared to relying on a few courses we currently play in for our games.”
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