Back from South Africa

Ahead of the World Cup 2010, Young Leaders from the UK travelled to South Africa promoting women's and girls' football.

The visit, organised by The FA’s charity partner Coaching For Hope and funded by the British Council, was a trip of a lifetime for 13 Young Leaders from Birmingham, London and East and North Riding County FAs along with two leaders from The FA’s national programme.

Accompanied by Football Development Officers Emily Toase, Polly Fildes and Gemma Thomas and delegates from the University of Central Lancashire and Birmingham University, Leona Trimble and Rachel Shepherd, the group flew out on 4 May for a ten day tour of South Africa delivering football coaching sessions in schools across the country.

The trip gave young leaders from the UK and South Africa a chance to share ideas, practices and experiences of coaching football through the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme. Thrown into new and challenging situations, the UK group quickly learned to adapt their sessions to allow for only having one football, no cones or bibs and in some instances only a patch of dirt to play on. Taking turns to coach, both the UK and South African leaders exchanged ideas on warm-ups and drills but also culture and language, getting involved in songs and dances taught by the students at the schools.

The group also had chance to tour some of the sights including Table Mountain, Cradle of Humankind, Cape of Good Hope, Nelson Mandela’s house and memorials in Soweto, Johannesburg’s most infamous township, which set the scene for the context in which South Africa’s culture is based.

A sobering visit to the HIV Treatment Action Centre in Khayletshia, along with a unique opportunity to visit some locals in their homes, highlighted just how many other issues impact upon the lives of children in South Africa. Poor living conditions, HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse, hunger and fear are all realities of everyday life in the townships.

Drawing comparisons between the UK and South Africa, the group saw similarities in the invisibility of womens football and the stereotyping and prejudice shown towards female players. As in the UK, football is generally considered a man’s sport and females struggle to gain the respect they deserve from their male counter-parts. In South Africa however, this takes a more serious tone, where women may risk their lives, in order to play the sport they love.

Participating in a seminar examining the challenges of developing women's football in the UK and South Africa at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, the party heard from a range of key speakers and entered into some interesting debates and discussions. The highlight was a powerful speech delivered by Marion February, UTC Coach, speaking on women's empowerment and her exchange with Norman Arendse, President of SAFA Cape Town. 

Asrid Van Kesteren (Goalkeeper for Banyana Banyana, South Africa’s National Women's team) also spoke of her loss when her team-mate midfielder Eudy Simelane was abused and brutally murdered in a homophobic related attack, simply because she played football. Both shocking and poignant, Asrid’s speech emphasised some of the differences between the two nations in terms of the female game. 

Speaking about the trip, Emily said: “Every one of us learnt so much from our experiences in South Africa, and I am extremely grateful to Coaching For Hope and the British Council for the opportunity. It was fantastic to see such enjoyment and passion for the game, despite the adverse situations many of the children live in. It was clear that sport plays an important role in addressing gender inequalities and providing some small relief to those who need to forget about fear and pain.”  

Polly added: “The differences between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in South Africa was striking. We were lucky enough to see both sides of this society and I hope that the England fans enjoying the World Cup this summer will have as good an experience as we did.”

The group now looks forward to a visit from the South Africa young leaders in 2011 and will no doubt be following South Arica’s progress in the World Cup ever more closely now.