Senior soccer stars are swapping tea time for touchlines

Entabeni Sports Ground in Zola was a field of loud music and even louder cheers. While several had their eyes on the youngsters on the pitch, it was the fancy footwork of pensioners that brought the crowds to the Soweto stadium.

Many looked far younger than their years, including Sibongile Nkosi, 69, who is captain of the Golden Oldies. It was her mother who brought her to the stadium in 2015 in pursuit of an aerobics class. Instead, she found a group of grannies with a lot of fancy footwork.

“I didn’t like football at the time,” said Nkosi. But she saw how dedicated the gogos were and joined them. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just kicking.”

As she continued playing, her family also took some convincing, with her children adamant she needed to sit down and enjoy her pension. It was her perseverance and love for the game that would turn around their feelings.

“I can touch my toes and my calves, which is difficult for other grannies. I am not the granny who asks the children to bring her the remote,” she said.

The same could be said by the eldest player on the field, 72-year-old Gogo MaNkosi. Also a member of the Golden Oldies, she calls her football career a God-given blessing as there were no women’s teams when she was young.

When MaNkosi initially tried to join the team, she was met with the threat of a diabetes diagnosis. However, she said joining the team had made a significant difference to her health and fitness.

“Playing football has helped me a lot. I had diabetes, but now I no longer have it. It has also helped me with my stamina. I don’t get tired easily and my body is always flexible,” she said, with retirement an option only when she can no longer walk without a stick.

For Nakie Masenya, football is also about finding happiness and leaving everyday worries behind. The 63-year-old, who plays for the Mamelodi Sundowns Gogos, said her love for football started while she was at school, though the sport was regarded as being for men at the time.

She took part in athletics in her youth but did not pursue it after schooling to focus on work. After retiring, Masenya joined a group of women who walked and exercised at the Muckleneuk Stadium in Mamelodi West. The walkers became a team, and Sundowns legend Jones Adams agreed to coach them. They are only eight months old.

“When we are on the field, we are the happiest. We forget all our problems,” she said. “If we practice and don’t play, we don’t feel well.”

Her husband, a Sundowns fan, is her biggest supporter. Masenya said she does not allow fear or negative thoughts to stop her from playing, adding injuries can happen anywhere, even at home.

For 64-year-old Busisiwe Sibiya, who is a goalkeeper for the Dobsie Grannies in Dobsonville, football is something she has loved since childhood.

However, with few opportunities for women to play the sport when she was younger, she turned to netball instead. Sibiya said the sport had helped her improve her fitness, stamina and blood circulation, while also keeping her mentally active.

She said there were moments when players made mistakes or argued on the field, but these became funny memories whenever they reflected on the game afterwards.

As a goalkeeper, she often looks back and laughs about the goals she failed to save. For her, the choice between staying at home and playing football is easy.

“What’s better between sitting at home, bothering my children and grandchildren to make me tea, or being on the field to ensure I keep fit and healthy?”

Sibiya’s team, who won the league last year, hopes to defend its title. She also has a bigger dream: to find sponsors who can help the gogos travel overseas to play in international leagues.

“Some of us have never been on a flight so we would really appreciate that,” she said, adding they also needed help with football kits, training equipment and transport.

The league has its own set of cheerleaders, including Busisiwe Nkwanyana, who shares support for all of Soweto’s soccer grannies. Her contribution to the atmosphere was her ululating, something she considers her talent.

Beyond a hobby, she sees older women taking part in sport as a way to build friendships while keeping active.

Behind it all is Babalwa Nhlapo, founder and director of Diski Gogos. It is an idea that began with her mother, who has a football team. “I wanted to give them a platform to showcase their talent so we can celebrate them,” she said.

Babalwa said some gogos told her they no longer take as many pills for their health, while others found companionship through the soccer league.

“When people get older, we isolate them. The more they come here, the more they build friendships. They have something to look forward to.”

Nhlapo encouraged older women to get involved in physical activities even if football was not their preferred sport.

For the women on the pitch, the tournament was about much more than winning a trophy. It was an opportunity to celebrate their abilities, friendships and the freedom to keep doing what they love.

For these gogos, the football pitch is a place to stay healthy, have fun and, above all, remind themselves that getting older does not mean giving up on life.