Published in Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine in March 2023. Thanks to Selina who generously shared her life story with interviewer and translator, Happiness Maake, in September 2021.
A grandmother cradles her teacup in her hands as she settles onto her well-worn sofa to watch her favorite soccer team on the television. She leans forward as her team drives toward the goal. Eyes locked on the TV; she prudently places her cup aside. Holds her breath as the defense closes in. Her favorite striker takes aim. She rises to her slipper-clad feet and thrusts her fist upward as the ball sails into the corner of the goal.
She’s attuned—addicted even—to the crescendo of the game. You can imagine fellow soccer fans around the world on their feet, cheering for the very same goal.
Grandmother Makoma Selina Matwalane’s passion for the sport really ignites when she kicks off her slippers and laces up her cleats. She lives in the rural province of Limpopo, South Africa. At 56, Selina is one of the youngest on her team. Several players, including the goalie, are well into their eighties.
It all started back in 2007. In their hometown of Nkowankowa, a group of women were meeting regularly for exercise. One day some boys happened to lob a soccer ball in their direction. One of the women booted the ball as the others hooted with laughter. They asked the teens how to properly kick it. For the next hour, the boys politely demonstrated how to pass and receive the ball. How to dribble up the field. And shoot the ball into the goal. The women so enjoyed it that they vowed to play again. “Tomorrow!” they agreed. The team, affectionately known as the Soccer Grannies, was born.
At first family and townsfolk ridiculed them. It was unheard of for women to play soccer—let alone grandmothers. They were scolded and told they belonged at home caring for the grandchildren. But the women were having too much fun to relinquish their newfound passion. As they perfected their ball handling skills, their physical health, mobility, and mental outlook improved. Selina attests, “You may go to the practice with something bothering your mind, but once you get there you forget about it. I am stress-free since I joined the Grannies team.”
Selina may not have taken up soccer until her fifties, but she remembers an active life as a young girl. Skipping rope set her heart racing. “Athletics was my favorite part of school. I grew so fond of running.” Winning races was her chance to shine.
But at lunch time, Selina avoided attention. “At school my peers would eat bread and other delicious things but as for me, I always carried a lunch box of porridge and wild spinach. That made them laugh at me.” Selina’s simple lunch reflected her family’s limited means. They lived on a White-owned farm where her father toiled assembling boxes for packing tomatoes. “The tough thing was that my father was never paid enough. Life was too hard for my parents.”
Selina’s life was rich however with tenderness. “I was raised by my mother who was blind. I remember how she lovingly cared for me and bathed me as a little girl.” Selina, the youngest of five children, helped her mother with the chores. “Just like other girls I was taught to make a soil mixture for beautifying the floors and walls of my family’s house. I drew water from the river. I cooked and washed our clothes.”
Selina also frequented the riverside to swim with her girlfriends after school. “I remember boys would take our clothes and hide them. They laughed as we ran around in our briefs looking for our clothes. Sometimes we had to beg the boys to give them back.”
Like kids around the world, Selina’s childhood blended schoolwork, physical chores, and playful interludes. Unlike kids in other countries, South Africa had been entrenched in the racist policies of apartheid rule for almost 20 years when Selina was born.
Segregation and discrimination institutionalized into laws. Blacks relocated to desolate “homelands.” Families separated. Physical movement restricted. Education deliberately inferior. Violent police enforcement. Blacks were plunged into poverty and held captive. A sinking feeling of hopelessness pervaded.
Many Black South Africans turned to religion as they sought answers. Selina was raised among the faithful. “I am so thankful the White farm owner was Christian. He was strict and made sure that we went to church every Sunday. That church was just for us Blacks living on the farm. No White person attended the church with us. As you know a Black person at that time was not regarded as a person.”
More than three quarters of Selina’s fellow citizens identify as Christian. In the early 1900’s there were more missionaries in South Africa than any other country in the world— the mild climate and manageable diseases drawing them as much as the souls to be saved. Some churches adopted aspects of traditional ancestral religions; many flocked to join those congregations. The church became host to the ceremonies marking life’s way points: baptism, marriage, and funerals.
Selina was a young 24-year-old woman when she met the man she would marry. “He was a teacher at the school I had attended. He proposed to me and after some discussions I agreed.”
Selina and her husband would raise two sons and a daughter. With the universal joys of motherhood came weighty responsibilities. “We struggled at home due to my husband drinking too much alcohol and spending too much money on it. He even borrowed money to buy more alcohol. We got into debt and that made us suffer. But my belief in the Lord has made me a strong person who is able to withstand such tough life situations.”
Selina was almost 30 in 1994 when South Africa won its bitter fight to end apartheid. Nelson Mandela, a long-held prisoner for his political activism, was elected President of the young democracy. It was a time for optimism and hope, but the Rainbow Nation faced many challenges as they sought to provide basic government services for the majority population that had been repressed for decades.
Meanwhile Selina was dealing with close-to-her-heart departures. “1997 was not a good year for me as I lost both my parents.” She clung to her immediate family as she grappled with her grief. “My mother worked hard to raise me. Parents are gifts from God.” Had Selina known the Soccer Grannies at that point in her life, her teammates would have comforted her with hugs and prayers.
Another two decades of life went by. Selina’s offspring had reached young adulthood and started their own families. “My husband passed away in 2019. I must be honest; although I had a tough life with him, I miss him nonetheless.” Months later, tragedy struck again for Selina. “My daughter passed away in the same year.” In the cases of such untimely deaths, grandmothers like Selina often assume care for the young grandchildren. Again, she turned to her faith for comfort. “I have relied so much on the Lord. Each time reporting difficulties to Him has helped me to heal.”
Today, this 56-year-old grandmother sits in the shade of a tree next to the stadium. She wears a white polo shirt under her black-and-white-flowered traditional ncecka, a cloth tied over one shoulder. Her head is covered with a broad colorful head band and kerchief proudly displaying the name of her soccer team.
Selina describes how her life now has a comfortable ebb and flow. “I start each day by cleaning the house and doing other chores. I am proud of myself for having raised a family and to be still living under the roof my husband and I built. I work as a church caretaker. I clean the church and make sure everything is in order.” Selina’s eyes sparkle as she mentions her grandchildren who live just a few kilometers from her. “I love them so much. They visit me for some days.” Before turning in for the evening, Selina often tunes the television to the soccer channel.
South Africa is a soccer-crazed nation, or more accurately a football-crazed nation. During the nearly 50 years of apartheid rule, even the “beautiful game” fell victim to separatist policies. Black teams were denied access to playing fields. Blacks were not permitted to represent their own country in international competitions. FIFA and the Olympic committee took stands against apartheid and banned South Africa from participation.
Along with democracy, soccer was returned to the citizens to South Africa. Just a few years after the Soccer Grannies first booted the ball, South Africa had the honor of hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup—the first time the games were held in Africa. The Soccer Grannies were thrust into the international spotlight as a charming human interest story in the leadup to the World Cup. My women’s soccer team in Massachusetts connected with the Grannies, formed a friendship, and convened on both sides of the Atlantic to play together.
Selina is grateful she has found a close-to-home community on the soccer field where twice a week she meets her teammates. She runs like she did as a young girl, and revels in the company of her teammates. “I had a lot of stress before joining soccer but now I am fine. We share jokes and laughter.” She returns home physically tired, but with her heart at ease.
The teapot whistles as she puts on her slippers and settles down in front of the television—just like other women around the world who love soccer.