Former City Lads player Gcobisa Maleki was one of four Eastern Cape girls selected to be a part of this year’s SAB and Safa skills camp for match officials in Pretoria this week.
The 30-year-old took a life-changing decision when she left her teaching profession at Loyiso High School in Mdantsane to follow her refereeing dream. She was shown how to handle the game at the High performance Centre with 29 other aspiring match officials from across the country.
“Being here is very fun and challenging, we work hard, we wake up in the morning and train and also attend classes,” she said.
Maleki is currently a referee in the AB Motsepe League and said she was inspired to be with PSL referee Akhona Makalima, who was present to give the youngsters support. “I also want to get to be where Akhona is, if she can do it , we can do it too. She is committed and she worked hard to get to where she is and that is what we need to do as well.”
After quitting for more than two years, she said the skills programme had re-ignited her passion for the game. “I once quit refereeing for two years but I came back because I told myself that I am not a failure. The goal is to be a Fifa referee, I want to be a part of a future World Cup.”
Mihlali Ndinwa 16, from East London said her love for the sport began at a young age. “I loved soccer a lot because at home I grew up playing with boys and most of the times we played soccer. Whenever I watched soccer on TV I always dreamed of coaching or refereeing. Refereeing is not only for men, we girls can do it too.”
Makalima said the participants were being taught the laws of the game. “I see a lot of passion in their eyes, their enthusiasm when they are running in the field of play makes you see that these young people are hungry for refereeing. I see that South Africa has a great future in terms of refereeing in football.”
Former Fifa referee Sylvester Ndaba said a number of SA referees came through the skills camp. “Here we are walking the walk, people are talking gender equity but here we are doing gender equity. We have a good reputation for producing very good male and female referees. We have Akhona Makalima who came through this skills programme. That is the impact of this kind of programme.”
Better World project manager, SAB and AB InBev Africa’s Kalashni Narainsamy said the event was aimed towards development of football in the country. “We are demonstrating our full commitment to the development of football in SA from grassroots level through the skills camp. Our key objective for the SAB League is to develop SA football holistically, and this necessitates opportunities like these where we upskill and empower all roleplayers.”