South Africa
Soccer Mama
8
June 2002
Guys playing soccer Music 00:00
Sara: They should be celebrating South Africa's big to host the next World Cup. But the failure to win the prized event hasn't dampened passion for the game. In a country that's won its freedom, but not prosperity, soccer is a weekly dose of escapism.
This team doesn't have an owner, but rather a mother. Dolly George is a football fanatic, and started the team three years ago. A curious and unlikely association between a kindly benevolent spinster and a bunch of boys with a bent for crime and alcohol abuse.
Music
Dolly Dolly: They said, Ma we drink from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. We don't know what we are doing. Can you do something for us? And I said, soccer is the first. 01:57
Coach Coach: She's great -- that's what I can say -- she's great, she's great, she's great. She's doing everything for boys, everything. She bought soccer balls, bought soccer kits -- everything. 02:10
Dolly watches soccer on TV Dolly: For me I loved it from small, right up to now, you know. Even my spare time, whatever I should be doing, I just sit down and watch TV and watch soccer. Nothing, no other games but soccer. 02:27
Dolly with Sara looking at photos Sara: In her younger days, Dolly was a local beauty queen. She enjoyed the attention, but treated her good looks as good luck, not something to take seriously. 02:54
Sara: The boys must have been chasing you, yeah?Dolly: Oh, they were! 03:04
Dolly watches soccer match Sara: Not so football. As a girl, she was a tomboy who never got the chance to impress on the field. It was a time when there was little place for women in the game. 03:08
Dolly Dolly: Oh yes, yes, yes. I used to play with the boys. I even got the boys I was playing with at school, they even went to Holland to go and play there. And -- well, if I was a boy, I think I should have gone with them also. 03:20
Clairwood Music
Sara: Home for Dolly and her players is Clairwood -- a tough, broken down industrial neighbourhood is suburban Durban, where the terms 'shooting' and 'scoring' often have little to do with soccer. 03:51
Boys practice soccer/Dolly Music
Dolly: I thought they really need help, because they can see they are going down the drain and they are so young boys -- you know, very young boys. As a parent, I thought well, it must be one of the things that I've got to help where I can, where I can help, and I said well, I'll buy the ball. 04:07
Norman: That is a great person that one -- Mama Clairwood. The guys, before the team was formed, they're doing bad things 04:33
Norman such as robbing and kidnapping people, killing the people, taking their money, point them with their knives. Lots of bad things most of the guys I'm playing with they do before. 04:42
Music
Team warms u Sara: Norman has left the temptations of crime behind to become a senior player. Like millions of desperate and disadvantage young men the world over, he, his team mates and the coach, share a common bond -- a love and passion for soccer. 05:02
Music
Natthi Natthi: I mean soccer is our life, it's our daily bread. You see, if you don't play soccer it mean you don't know who you are if you don't play soccer or sing. You see, with us, we sing, we play soccer, we dance. You see, if you are a youngster, if you don't do that, so you are not from our place. 05:25
Soccer match Sara: While enthusiasm isn't in short supply, money is. Dolly, whose pension runs to a meagre $25 a week, regularly digs into her scarce resources to support the team. Her young, unemployed players survive on their wits. There are no dole payments or welfare cheques from the government. 05:58
Fitho Fitho: I mean here is a woman with that small amount of her pension, but she is ready to share that little bit with others. I think that is a lesson that everyone really should, you know, people should emulate what Dolly is doing. 06:20
Dolly and Fitho at match Sara: And emulate they do. After many years in exile, Fitho Khuzwayo, a retired nurse, has returned to Clairwood to team up with Dolly. 06:39
She's already recruited a sponsor. No multinational, but new uniforms have arrived courtesy of a local sports store owner. For the team, it's all part of the fantasy. The players prepare as if it's a World Cup appearance. But first, they need to add their own special touch.
Guys mix muthi Sara: Footballers have their own superstitions and rituals. Here the players mix a batch of muthi, liquid magic. Made from a traditional recipe of herbs and roots, it's a feature of South African soccer. 07:11
But behind the laughter are deeply held beliefs that muthi really makes a difference. It's a spell sealed with fire and as legend has it, the power to burn out opponents. 07:27
Soccer match Music
Sara: But sometimes even muthi magic is not enough. In a tight match, 'Clairwood Mother City,' the team named in Dolly's honour, goes down two one. 07:59
Music
Team gathers at Dolly's Sara: After the game, it's back to Dolly's house. A couple of years shy of seventy, she's lived here for the past 44 years. She's never married, her only son just 21 when he was killed in a car crash. 08:18
But it hasn't been a lonely life. Clairwood's been her home, and with it has come an extended family. Without her care and support many would have been destined for a life of crime and violence. 08:34
Dolly dancing Music Coach: She's faithful, she likes people, she's a mother of the nation. 08:58
Coach She's a mother of everybody, everyone. She deserves a prize for this. She has been helping a lot a lot of people. She's great. 09:02
Music 09:38
Credits: Soccer MamaReporter: Sally SaraCamera: Graham WalshEditor: Garth ThomasResearch: Candace Rivett-Carnac
Soccer Mama
8
June 2002
Guys playing soccer Music 00:00
Sara: They should be celebrating South Africa's big to host the next World Cup. But the failure to win the prized event hasn't dampened passion for the game. In a country that's won its freedom, but not prosperity, soccer is a weekly dose of escapism.
This team doesn't have an owner, but rather a mother. Dolly George is a football fanatic, and started the team three years ago. A curious and unlikely association between a kindly benevolent spinster and a bunch of boys with a bent for crime and alcohol abuse.
Music
Dolly Dolly: They said, Ma we drink from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. We don't know what we are doing. Can you do something for us? And I said, soccer is the first. 01:57
Coach Coach: She's great -- that's what I can say -- she's great, she's great, she's great. She's doing everything for boys, everything. She bought soccer balls, bought soccer kits -- everything. 02:10
Dolly watches soccer on TV Dolly: For me I loved it from small, right up to now, you know. Even my spare time, whatever I should be doing, I just sit down and watch TV and watch soccer. Nothing, no other games but soccer. 02:27
Dolly with Sara looking at photos Sara: In her younger days, Dolly was a local beauty queen. She enjoyed the attention, but treated her good looks as good luck, not something to take seriously. 02:54
Sara: The boys must have been chasing you, yeah?Dolly: Oh, they were! 03:04
Dolly watches soccer match Sara: Not so football. As a girl, she was a tomboy who never got the chance to impress on the field. It was a time when there was little place for women in the game. 03:08
Dolly Dolly: Oh yes, yes, yes. I used to play with the boys. I even got the boys I was playing with at school, they even went to Holland to go and play there. And -- well, if I was a boy, I think I should have gone with them also. 03:20
Clairwood Music
Sara: Home for Dolly and her players is Clairwood -- a tough, broken down industrial neighbourhood is suburban Durban, where the terms 'shooting' and 'scoring' often have little to do with soccer. 03:51
Boys practice soccer/Dolly Music
Dolly: I thought they really need help, because they can see they are going down the drain and they are so young boys -- you know, very young boys. As a parent, I thought well, it must be one of the things that I've got to help where I can, where I can help, and I said well, I'll buy the ball. 04:07
Norman: That is a great person that one -- Mama Clairwood. The guys, before the team was formed, they're doing bad things 04:33
Norman such as robbing and kidnapping people, killing the people, taking their money, point them with their knives. Lots of bad things most of the guys I'm playing with they do before. 04:42
Music
Team warms u Sara: Norman has left the temptations of crime behind to become a senior player. Like millions of desperate and disadvantage young men the world over, he, his team mates and the coach, share a common bond -- a love and passion for soccer. 05:02
Music
Natthi Natthi: I mean soccer is our life, it's our daily bread. You see, if you don't play soccer it mean you don't know who you are if you don't play soccer or sing. You see, with us, we sing, we play soccer, we dance. You see, if you are a youngster, if you don't do that, so you are not from our place. 05:25
Soccer match Sara: While enthusiasm isn't in short supply, money is. Dolly, whose pension runs to a meagre $25 a week, regularly digs into her scarce resources to support the team. Her young, unemployed players survive on their wits. There are no dole payments or welfare cheques from the government. 05:58
Fitho Fitho: I mean here is a woman with that small amount of her pension, but she is ready to share that little bit with others. I think that is a lesson that everyone really should, you know, people should emulate what Dolly is doing. 06:20
Dolly and Fitho at match Sara: And emulate they do. After many years in exile, Fitho Khuzwayo, a retired nurse, has returned to Clairwood to team up with Dolly. 06:39
She's already recruited a sponsor. No multinational, but new uniforms have arrived courtesy of a local sports store owner. For the team, it's all part of the fantasy. The players prepare as if it's a World Cup appearance. But first, they need to add their own special touch.
Guys mix muthi Sara: Footballers have their own superstitions and rituals. Here the players mix a batch of muthi, liquid magic. Made from a traditional recipe of herbs and roots, it's a feature of South African soccer. 07:11
But behind the laughter are deeply held beliefs that muthi really makes a difference. It's a spell sealed with fire and as legend has it, the power to burn out opponents. 07:27
Soccer match Music
Sara: But sometimes even muthi magic is not enough. In a tight match, 'Clairwood Mother City,' the team named in Dolly's honour, goes down two one. 07:59
Music
Team gathers at Dolly's Sara: After the game, it's back to Dolly's house. A couple of years shy of seventy, she's lived here for the past 44 years. She's never married, her only son just 21 when he was killed in a car crash. 08:18
But it hasn't been a lonely life. Clairwood's been her home, and with it has come an extended family. Without her care and support many would have been destined for a life of crime and violence. 08:34
Dolly dancing Music Coach: She's faithful, she likes people, she's a mother of the nation. 08:58
Coach She's a mother of everybody, everyone. She deserves a prize for this. She has been helping a lot a lot of people. She's great. 09:02
Music 09:38
Credits: Soccer MamaReporter: Sally SaraCamera: Graham WalshEditor: Garth ThomasResearch: Candace Rivett-Carnac