Ladies have a place in the game

“Many people still believe soccer is only for men,” said Ms Norah Mudzielwana, the second deputy president of Safa Vhembe.

Mudzielwana said that she was born with a unique talent for sport. When she was nine years old, she was selected to play for the senior netball team of Tshandama Primary School. “When I was at Thengwe High School, I was the captain of the netball team.” After she had completed Grade 12, she went to Makhado College of Education where she completed her teaching diploma and was the captain of the netball team.

In 1995, she formed a ladies’ soccer team, Tshandama Young Stars, who are still playing in the Sasol Limpopo Women’s League. In 1996, she was elected as the chairperson of Mutale Schools Netball, a position she held till 2014. “I was elected as the league and competition coordinator of Vhembe school sports, heading netball.”

In 2006, she was elected as deputy chairperson of the Vhembe District Indigenous Games Association and in 2008 as the secretary of Provincial Indigenous Games and secretary of South Africa, Kgati federation. She was appointed in 2009 as the president of the Kgati South Africa Federation and is still holding the position.

In 2014, she was appointed as the chairperson of the Limpopo Indigenous Kgati Federation. She still holds the post.

She is the deputy president of the Thulamela Local Football Association and second deputy president of Safa Vhembe. She also held the position of the Safa Vhembe women’s league coordinator. She is the director of the U/13 and U/15 Vinomaca X1 Experience soccer teams.

Apart from her education diploma, she holds a certificate in sports management from the University of Venda, a BSc honours degree in recreation and leisure studies, an advanced certificate in education in English from Unisa, and a BEd honours in educational management from Unisa. She is doing her master’s degree at the institute for rural development at Univen at present.

Date:13 June 2020

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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