Executive producer breaks the mould
She told this newspaper that some of the good memories that still put a smile on her face were the 2010 Soccer World Cup and travelling to Australia.
Gone are the days when we used to say a woman’s place is in the kitchen. These days they are doing it for themselves and some of them go the extra mile by entering industries that are well known to be male dominated.
Mpumalanga News caught up with the executive producer of sports in Ligwalagwala FM, Tracey Mathabela.
She has been in the media industry for 15 years and so far she is doing a great job in keeping people well informed about what is happening in the world of sports.
“When I broke into the industry, I never thought that one day I would be a sport executive producer because I was not even a fan of it at school.
“I only participated in athletics in primary. When I join the station as a presenter, I was doing programming, education and sports until my former sports manager, Tony du Toit recognised my talent. From there I never look back again,” she explained.
There is perception that women don’t have more knowledge when it comes to sport, but Mathabela has proven that in life you must not allow your gender to prevent you from aiming high.
“Every job has its own challenges. When I started to focus more on sport some people did not have confidence in me.
I research a lot to keep myself well informed about what is happening so that I am able to give the listeners good content and keep them well updated.
“The other thing that makes my job easy is the people I work with. They are much more than just colleagues to me. They are my friends, family and we can talk broadly about sport so that we can be on the same level.
The support from my family keeps me going,” she said.
“I believe that I still need to grow from where I am that is why I like to be useful by assisting when there is no enough manpower like in marathons, golf, netball and also to step in at any sporting codes for women,” she continued.
She told this newspaper that some of the good memories that still put a smile on her face were the 2010 Soccer World Cup and travelling to Australia.
“The world-cup games kept me and my crew on our toes because some of the games were played at Mbombela Stadium and we had to maintain the standard of presenting them.
“Working in Australia for a month also boosted my confidence to do my work without having doubts.
My advice to other women out there who want to make a mark in sport, is once you’ve discovered your talent, make sure you use it wisely so that you can become a better person,” she concluded.
