Every evening at 5.30pm, a group of women gathers on a field behind Fairmount Bowls Club. Many of them travelling from as far away as Lombardy East, where they are employed as domestic workers, the women use the fading evening light to play the beautiful game.
Hilda Hamese, the club’s chair said the club began as an exercise group on the suggestion of one woman’s employer. It quickly morphed into an informal football club, however, and now, with the help of volunteer coach Samuel Molefe, the women compete in Gauteng’s Bagolobafitlile league, participating in matches whenever possible.
Today, the club counts about 36 women among its members, ranging in age from school pupils to gogos over 60 years old, and is seeing considerable success. Last week, the women travelled to Pretoria to play in a seniors’ league match and returned with a cup to add to their already impressive collection. The only thing that is standing in the way of the club’s future, said Molefe, was lack of sponsorship for playing kit and balls, which are paid for out of the women’s pockets.
Hamese is delighted with the benefits that the club brings to its members. Not only is their health and fitness noticeably improved, she said, but the club had become a valuable space to build social bonds among women who were once strangers.
“Now we know each other. We are like a family,” she said proudly.
Details: Hilda 078 692 0885; membership is open to anyone.
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