Gran old time: Soccer gogos of Limpopo are alive and kicking

A group of soccer players have gathered on the field at Nkowankowa Stadium outside Tzaneen in Limpopo. It’s a chilly afternoon, the mountains beyond are shrouded in cloud, and the field is winter brown with some unforgiving dusty patches.

Undeterred, the players chatter loudly and excitedly get into gear, discarding beanies, jackets and scarves for shorts and T-shirts. Then they hit the field for a brisk warm-up.

These are not just any soccer players. They are the soccer gogos (grannies) of Limpopo, Vakhegula Vakhegula FC. In a nod to our national team, Bafana Bafana (Boys Boys in isiZulu), they call themselves Vakhegula Vakhegula (Grandmothers Grandmothers in Xitsonga).

The youngest is 51, the oldest 84, and they’ve been flying the flag in Nkowankowa for 17 years. Some have died, others have joined, but they continue to meet every Tuesday and Thursday for practice.

Midfielder Anna Vuma (84) – her nickname on the field is Bull – remembers with singular clarity the day on which Vakhegula Vakhegula FC started. “It was on Wednesday, 13 August 2007 at 2.30pm,” she says. “I was given a football by Beka Ntsanwisi and encouraged to learn how to play the beautiful game. The next day I called all the grannies I knew and we started a team.”

Goalkeeper Mamaila Chauke (83) is in excellent health and proud of beating Mauritius in an away game earlier this year. She was also part of the team that played in the first Grannies International Football Tournament, held right here at Nkowankowa Stadium. About 30 international teams came from as far as France, the US, Russia, Brazil, Denmark, Togo, Mali, Senegal, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

There were nine local gogo teams with players from Polokwane, Sekhukhune, Mopani and Vhembe districts. The Zambian minister of sport attended and the stadium was packed. The US took the title, alas. “They were younger than us,” laughs Chauke.

I saw that people, especially women, in public hospitals were not exercising. One day I said, let’s play soccer. They said, ‘Mama, we can try this.’

Vakhegula Vakhegula FC grew out of a “healthy living” project for older women in townships and villages around Nkowankowa and the nearby town of Tzaneen. It was founded by Beka Ntsanwisi, philanthropist, social change advocate and cancer survivor. She was born in Nkowankowa and was a gospel music compiler for the SABC when she was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003.

Ntsanwisi spent frequent bouts in hospital as she underwent chemotherapy and other treatment, and met a lot of older women with ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and rheumatism. She realised that gogos in rural areas have huge physical and emotional responsibilities.

They raise grandchildren and look after the sick, the other elderly and those with HIV/Aids. They cook, they clean, they care, they carry and they cart. Their illnesses are lifestyle- and stress-related.

As Ntsanwisi recovered from being wheelchair bound, she started exercising and, little by little, convinced some of the other patients and outpatients to walk and work out with her. They started exercising at the local stadium, saw younger kids playing games and somehow it all morphed into a soccer team.

The Beka Foundation now reaches out to elderly women in more than 40 different communities in Limpopo. She was given one of South Africa’s highest national awards, the Order of the Baobab, in 2008 for her work in rural communities.

“It was tough. I was in a wheelchair,” says Ntsanwisi. “I saw that people, especially women, in public hospitals were not exercising. One day I said, let’s play soccer. They said, ‘Mama, we can try this.’

“The first day it was just joking. They were just laughing at themselves. The second day they called and said, ‘We want to meet for soccer again’. They started to practise. They were the ones who decided to practise every Tuesday and Thursday.”

I don’t take any chronic medication and do not use walking sticks for support.

Since then, Vakhegula Vakhegula FC has accomplished extraordinary things. They gained some fame when South Africa hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and some of the gogos – like Vuma – went to the US to play the grannies there and meet then President Barack Obama. Vakhegula Vakhegula FC also went to the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil.

In 2018, they participated in the Grannies Summer Football Championships in Russia. Merriam Mushwana, who was 65 at the time, won a trophy for best player in one of the games.

In June 2019, some Vakhegula Vakhegula FC members were part of the South African Elderly Football Association’s team that played a friendly in France against a granny team during the Women’s World Cup. They spent 22 days in the country and beat the French grannies 10-0.

The other success, of course, is that the gogos are fit and healthy. “I’m healthier than I have ever been in my life,” says Modjadji Gayisa.

“I don’t take any chronic medication and do not use walking sticks for support.”

All the women have got fitter and stronger since playing soccer, and being on a team has strengthened their bond. For some it has meant lower blood pressure, and others have increased mobility and less pain.

More than 40 women regularly take part in the practices. Other teams in surrounding villages have sprung up, and matches are held regularly at the stadium.

One of the players is award-winning businesswoman Adri Kruger (62), who owns the Tzaneen Country Lodge and has helped support Vakhegula Vakhegula FC. “Even when our coach calls me out as a disaster for missing the ball, it is all part of the fun and games!” laughs Kruger. “Playing soccer with the grannies has taught me that age is just a number. My fellow grannies’ energy, enthusiasm and wisdom have not only improved my physical health, but have enriched my life in ways I never imagined.”

In April, the team went to Mauritius, where they beat the Mauritian grannies 2-0 in a thrilling match. 

“It’s a tough job,” says coach Abraham Sevor (42), who is from Ghana and has been coaching the gogos since 2017. “Dealing with the grannies is no joke. It takes passion and it takes self-control. But we are a big family.”

Once the women have warmed up and stretched, they begin to play a friendly game against each other: red team versus yellow team. It’s not the fastest game, but the women are steady and sure-footed. “Nice pass,” shouts Sevor. Then a few minutes later: “Red team, stop relaxing; kick the ball.” There is shouting and kicking, a pass. The captain, Thelma Ngobeni, tries to score, but Chauke saves the ball. 

The whistle blows, the women cheer. The commentator, Beatrice Chabalala, gives a running commentary in Xitsonga from the benches. The gogos’ enjoyment on the field is palpable. This is the profound ability of sport to connect people, whatever their age and life stage. Off the field, the women change into traditional outfits to show off what they wear when they’re spectators, or when they’re travelling officially as Vakhegula Vakhegula FC. DM

If you would like to support Vakhegula Vakhegula FC, please call Florah Baloyi on 071 881 4093.

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a freelance journalist.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.