Having to defy the odds and proving society wrong has never been a challenge for Moonira Ramathula.
Ramathula has worked with numerous communities, including Bryanston, on establishing a strong presence of acknowledging women of sport through her organisation, Futballing Girls NPO.
The highly motivated and driven businesswoman opened doors for women in sports back in 2015 with one vision: women empowerment. The origin Futballing Girls NPO started in an unusual way. “I started out as a soccer mom, taking my son out to the games and all of a sudden I was managing the team. So, at that time, a lot of parents would come up to me saying that their daughters would love to play soccer and ask me questions on recommendations,” said Ramathula.
“That is when I immediately saw a solution to a problem that we have. Not many women have the exposure to be acknowledged which is what I wanted to change.”
After obtaining her coaching licence and her referee level one qualification, she decided to put the final nail in the coffin and registered the organisation. It started with two girls and quickly gained a lot of attraction by its first year of operating.
Although named Futballing Girls, the Norwood-based organisation takes pride in the development of various sporting skills. Skills which include the development and improvement of any sport, coaching and refereeing.
Sport administrator of Bryanston High School, Laurenzo Thompson, who has been assisting Ramathula for the past few months, described her as a selfless woman with heart and a lot of determination to create a big safe space for women.
Aside from the main vision of the organisation, she later created an annual award ceremony to celebrate the achievements of women in the sport, known as The Gauteng Women in Sports Awards. The award, which was first hosted in Sandton last year, prepares to shine its lights yet again on March 24 at The Parktonian.
