Futballing Girls NPO celebrates and builds up women in sports

JOHANNESBURG – Anyone who enjoys sports will tell you that 2024 is a big year for the sports fraternity with everyone trying to get to Paris for the Olympics and Paralympics.

While we are enjoying the build-up competitions Futballing Girls NPO hosted its 4th edition of the Gauteng Women in Sports Awards to celebrate women in sports. Eyewitness News spoke to the Founder and Chairperson Moonira Ramathula.

“Indeed it is a big year and is a very important year for our athletes with both the Olympics and Paralympics. An opportunity to compete against the best is an achievement on its own."

"I guess my message to the athletes is that they should go out there and give it their all, and remember that their best might not be a podium finish but a personal best, an improvement towards their ultimate goal as an athlete.”

Gauteng Women in Sports Awards creates role models in communities

Ramathula formed Futballing Girls in 2015, an initiative to recognise women in sports in Gauteng. The awards were established in 2018 in Ekurhuleni and have since expanded to various districts in Gauteng.

“The celebration of women in sports plays a key element in the growth and development of women in sports and participation. It’s also important to instill a culture of celebrating oneself and one’s achievements. Our awards, play a key part in creating tolerance models within communities.”

She has continually been vocal about the importance of gender equality in sports emphasising that the federations must have equal opportunities and equal pay in competitions.

“I’m 2015 I founded and launched Futballing Girls NPO as an organisation that was going to grant girls an opportunity to play football, whether she has played before or not. However, the organisation quickly transformed into women in sport organisation encompassing all sporting codes, because I soon realised the major gaps and challenges young girls and women face as I wanted to do something about that, I wanted to contribute towards a positive change towards gender equality. We help women understand that they should not be limited, but can achieve it all.”

Speaking on the awards Ramathula tells Eyewitness News that there have been many lessons along the way, however, what is key is that they need to keep going and keep expanding the awards.

“We are grateful for the partnership with the Limpopo Sports Confederation which saw the inaugural Limpopo Women in Sports Awards in 2023."

"Another important lesson along our journey is to ensure that as an organisation we partner or collaborate to understand our vision and our goals need to align. The ultimate winner in this has to always be the empowerment of women in sports.”

In 2017 Ramathula won a gsport award for volunteer of the year and said this reinforced the need to start women in sports awards at the community level. She also wanted to work towards increasing the number of women in leadership positions within the province.

“I have also developed a few workshops and training programmes for women in sport including Personal Branding and Leadership Skills training for women in sport, which is very important as empowered women understand their value and the roles they play in the fight for gender equality.”

Futballing Girls hosted their first seminar for women with disabilities in sports in February with Ramathula telling Eyewitness News that as much as the are similarities in the conversations there is a need to focus purely on para-athletes.

"There is a need to compartmentalise and delve deeper into what is further needed to grow participation in sport for athletes with disabilities as well as finding workable solutions for the athletes from the athletes.”

Ramathula is one of the women who have been said to be pushing back the frontiers of sports tourism across Africa. She was inducted into the prestigious African Sports Tourism Week’s Amazons of Sports Tourism Hall of Fame in 2022.

“In order to further develop athletes in rural areas, they have to have access to adequate facilities, competent coaches and competitive competition opportunities. For coaches to be competent, they need to be offered training courses and workshops to keep them current with the latest trends and developments in their respective sporting codes.”