Vakhegula grannies gear up for international tourney

The province’s grannies football club, Vakhe­gula Vakhegula has once again received an invite to participate in the international Little Miss Soccer tournament to be held during the 2019 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) Women’s World Cup scheduled to take place in France from 7 June to 7 July.
The team will join 12 clubs from around the globe in the battle for the trophy. Coach Nteteku Mapeka informed Polokwane Observer that they were excited to have been invited and have begun the selection process for the strongest possible team. He added that they play round robin matches to scout talent among grannies teams that fall under the South African Elderly Football Association (Saefa). The team for the tournament would be made up of 11 players and nine officials, he informed.
While money to cover the team’s expenses is currently a problem, founder Beka Ntsanwisi said they were confident that good Samaritans would come on board to help cover the costs. She explained that the cost per person is at least R12 000. She reminded that grannies soccer started in Limpopo and was now spreading across the world.
“This is yet another great opportunity for our team hence we request support from the Provincial Government and the private sector. Limpopo is the first province to have grannies soccer and we should be proud of this,” Ntsanwisi explained. The team has been to the United States, Brazil and Russia.
One Samaritan, Nokuthula Ngoveni has pledged to donate 30 head-wraps to the team. He said he has been following grannies soccer since it was introduced in the province and has realised that it was a great initiative to boost elderly persons’ health. Ngoveni wished the team the best of luck ahead of the tournament and challenged other companies and individuals to also sponsor the team.

Story and photo: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za