ALIVE & KICKING: THE SOCCER GRANNIES OF SOUTH AFRICA

 

TRANSCRIPTION

 

 #00:00:41.4#

 

When you fall down it's the medicine, don't worry.  #00:00:46.2#

 

"ALIVE & KICKING: THE SOCCER GRANNIES OF SOUTH AFRICA"  #00:01:33.0#

 

When I did this "Soccer Grannies"- Wow, it was so big.  #00:01:45.0#

 

NKOWANKOWA, LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA  #00:01:54.3#

 

"Mama Beka" Let me tell you one thing- she's a woman of the women. She's got passion, she's got love. All the time she wants peace.  #00:02:08.8#

 

I grew up sick somehow, I just wanted to recover. Because you know when they give you treatment you end up not good.  #00:02:26.6#

 

So I thought by exercising, it will take out all the chemicals that were in me.  #00:02:33.3#

 

Because when you go to exercise, you come- you sleep the whole night. But if you are not exercising you will think the whole night. Stress, Diseased, that's the routine; so I wanted to change that.  #00:02:52.9#

 

So one day I decided we need to exercise aerobics. Take the grannies to do aerobics.  #00:03:03.5#

 

So we went to the playing ground. When we were there, only to find that there were boys playing soccer down there. They passed the ball to us.  #00:03:16.2#

 

So one granny, I said "Granny Run" And that woman decided to kick the ball. But it couldn't far, and the boys were laughing. She tried to run again, kick the ball. It was just going to us.  #00:03:28.6#

 

The other granny kick and the other one kick and we were laughing. And they next day they call me and say, "We need to do this again - it's nice!"  #00:03:39.3#

 

And that's how we started.  #00:03:43.6#

 

When I go to hospital you see there are many woman there. Why woman!?  #00:03:52.3#

 

Even now you go to hospital, you find more women than men. So I was worried and I asked them because some of them I know them.  #00:04:00.4#

 

Some of us die because of HIV and AIDS, I'm giving you an example. We leave the grannies with the children.  #00:04:13.6#

 

Maybe she's fighting with the husband Maybe the husband left and she was all alone.  #00:04:20.5#

 

They only get R1200 ($85) a month, to feed more than maybe twelve or eight grandchildren.  #00:04:31.5#

 

And its stressful for them. At the end of the day they become depressed.  #00:04:35.5#

 

Those grannies, when they are having problems and they are congested in the brain.  #00:04:46.3#

 

But when they come here, when we play soccer and do the body exercises, they be released and they become free.  #00:04:54.7#

 

With me and Jack we work hand in hand.  #00:04:56.9#

 

We practice twice in a week- Tuesdays & Thursdays.  #00:05:01.4#

 

Vhakegula is Grannies. So Vhakegula Vhakegula is Grannies Grannies.  #00:05:14.1#

 

So we decided we have Bafana Bafana- Boys Boys. We must have Vhakegula Vhakegula- Grannies Grannies!   #00:05:26.1#

 

Jack- Coach says Why you doing this?  #00:05:33.4#

 

Look sometimes when you go like this- you will feel the pain - you see.  #00:05:40.4#

 

For example when I have the pain here- I go like this. And this.  #00:05:49.3#

 

Now the pain goes away.  #00:05:51.7#

 

And you know the first time the Minister was laughing at this. They said we also have a team for the oldies. These are grannies playing football. The oldest is 84 years old.  #00:06:03.3#

 

You know the hall, the laughed. They laughed as if.  #00:06:07.6#

 

(Coach in Background) Hurry up, hurry up- don't waste time. Don't waste time. Goalkeeper you are wasting time.  #00:06:11.7#

 

Because in our culture we don't do that. For women playing soccer. Remember they never played soccer. Many of them never went to school. It was taboo for us.  #00:06:23.3#

 

Some of them laugh at us, they call our grandmothers when they walk along the street. They call them Christian Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and it makes me feel better because my grandmother is always fit.  #00:06:35.5#

 

I play soccer, I play soccer. I'm tired. I'm sleeping - I'm tired. I'm sleeping right through until early in the morning.  #00:06:44.0#

 

(Coach in Background) Are you ready?  #00:06:50.4#

 

Everyday I wake up early, I run to the road.  #00:07:01.3#

 

5 kilometers around until five times.  #00:07:06.0#

 

I won't go to hospital, even the clinic. I won't drink tablets everytime. I just walk and run.  #00:07:21.6#

 

The husband used to beat Bull.  #00:07:31.9#

 

He hit me very, very much.  #00:07:41.3#

 

You know I had the teeth. But he beat me the whole night.  #00:07:48.4#

 

And then I say yeah, I'll make a divorce. I don't like here anymore. He had a girlfriend.  #00:08:00.5#

 

But now I'm scared because I stay alone.  #00:08:05.4#

 

They rape. They steal, they break the house. And sometimes they kill you.  #00:08:16.6#

 

Because if I don't play soccer, I will say- I stay alone. Maybe I have no sugar, I have no anything. I will cry alone.  #00:08:34.6#

 

But if I go to play soccer, I won't think anything.  #00:08:38.9#

 

That notebook, I always take a record about them. If someone comes here- I must take the record. If they are not feeling well, I must take the record. Who didn't come here, I must know you didn't come here. Because they are old and I don't know what is happening. So I can go their house and visit and see what is happening.  #00:09:02.2#

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(Coach in Background) "Watch me"  #00:09:11.0#

 

"Go"  #00:09:14.5#

 

"If your breasts are disturbing you - then you go like this"  #00:09:23.9#

 

"Just come closer, come closer"  #00:09:30.6#

 

Hold the hands.  #00:09:32.1#

 

One... Two...  #00:09:36.7#

 

You! Hold up, hold up.  #00:09:41.8#

 

If someone fall, you must try to help them. I always say this. Don't stand here and just look at the person. You understand? We are training here.  #00:09:57.0#

 

They listening to me, I always tell them them. I say look- you are my mother, you are my grandmother. But the moment we come to the field, you become my child because you are under training.  #00:10:10.6#

 

(Coach in Background) "You must run until you fall down"  #00:10:13.1#

 

I think Jack (Coach) is a very good guy, and the grannies are afraid of him and understand him because he's not that much. He's simple and he understands them.  #00:10:22.9#

 

"Here we go"  #00:10:25.5#

 

"Stomach Crunch!"  #00:10:33.2#

 

"I don't want to see your stomach down on the floor!" "See how I'm hanging, I'm hanging. Do it. Do it!"  #00:10:47.7#

 

"We are skipping- we are coming there- OK. You go like this. OK!"  #00:10:52.9#

 

"One two, one two."  #00:10:55.9#

 

"Open, open, open."  #00:10:58.4#

 

"Jamal- Go!" You are wasting my time, go!"  #00:11:01.8#

 

"Mami Kuna- let's go!"  #00:11:03.8#

 

One, two, one two. Go. If you're breasts are, go like this. One two, you see. "  #00:11:13.6#

 

"Lets pray, lets pray"  #00:11:31.7#

 

GRANNIES PRAYING IN TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE- TSONGA.  #00:11:52.5#

 

Thank you, thank you. Thank you for coming and I will see you here tomorrow morning.  #00:12:02.7#

 

Ah, you know we are finished the practice now.  #00:12:09.7#

 

Ah, but it's helping them. It's helping them a lot. Most of them when they come here because they are having the stress.  #00:12:20.0#

 

The end up releasing, being free. And they are OK, they are OK. When they go home, they used to call "Oh Coach, today I'm OK, I'm happy, I'm happy." I say No, Keep on coming, keep on coming and I used to encourage them.  #00:12:35.4#

 

Here- every week. They bury every week.  #00:12:46.3#

 

Maybe another one is sick, another one is HIV positive. And other one they killed.  #00:12:57.4#

 

Amen #00:12:59.4#

 

Every week here.  #00:13:02.5#

 

With Gayisa, I'll tell you about Gayisa. Her husband left her after getting married. Leaving her with the kids.  #00:13:18.3#

 

That's why she's still selling food at schools everyday. So that she can get money.  #00:13:26.1#

 

And imagine when your husband left you and you take your children to school. After two years, one of your sons- he died while working.  #00:13:36.6#

 

My son - he die.  #00:13:41.5#

 

I cry and I cry and I cry. I feel pain.  #00:13:48.8#

 

I'm all alone. I pray, I pray, I pray. Help me!  #00:13:56.2#

 

He come. I play soccer, I play soccer, I play soccer. Ah, I'm strong. I feel pain gone. Yes.  #00:14:08.5#

 

(Coach Background) "Good! Good, You must do it like that all the time." #00:14:24.1#

 

They love each other, they do the same things. And they are proud of themselves.  #00:14:29.2#

 

I gym and I gym and I gym. Jackie! I'm gyming, gyming, gyming!  #00:14:34.8#

 

The whole of South Africa- when you talk about "Vhakegula Vhakegula" (Grannies, Grannies") - because look at their age. 65 years and above. Even some of the young girls, when you put them on the field, they can't don anything like those grannies can do.  #00:14:55.6#

 

I like soccer very much. I like Beka so much.  #00:15:01.0#

 

It's my hero to me- Beka. My hero!  #00:15:05.7#

 

And many people now, you go the whole of South Africa. We have teams playing soccer.  #00:15:11.6#

 

I have a team in Mozambique. I also have a team in Zimbabwe- the one that I'm sure of. And in Johannesburg, Gauteng- there are many teams.  #00:15:24.3#

 

Vhakegula Vhakegula! "Grannies Grannies!"  #00:15:30.3#

 

This Friday, we'll have a friendly match. Vhakegula Vhakegula will play against Bambamentshisi.  #00:15:45.8#

 

My dream and my plan is to host Africa Grannies Cup.  #00:16:00.4#

 

Even if I have four countries, it will be nice. Just for us, for the grannies- Imagine.  #00:16:06.8#

 

(Coach in Background) "Yes, Pass."  #00:16:40.6#

 

"Duck, duck, duck. Don't stand there- attack the ball!"  #00:16:51.5#

 

I'm expecting them to be very strong- that is the first point.  #00:16:57.9#

 

I'm expecting them to live long - that is the second point.  #00:17:01.9#

 

And I'm expecting more sponsors, for them to live good so that we can live longer and not die a premature death. No, so this is encouraging them.  #00:17:14.0#

 

"The soccer pitch has helped us."  #00:17:31.2#

 

"In fighting against our pain."  #00:17:33.7#

 

"We are not fighting with anybody"  #00:17:38.0#

 

"We are just fighting with the pain that we have."  #00:17:42.6#

 

"Beka Ntsanwisi has helped us a lot."  #00:17:45.8#

 

"In fighting against our pain."  #00:17:50.0#

 

"We, the grannies of Nkowankowa"  #00:17:53.5#

 

"Keep fighting through the pain."  #00:17:57.4#

 

"We are not fighting with anybody"  #00:18:01.1#

 

"We are just fighting with the pain that we have."  #00:18:05.3#

 

I believe that Vhakegula Vhakegula play soccer.  #00:18:25.8#

 

If you don't want to play soccer,  #00:18:32.6#

 

You won't get stronger than me.  #00:18:37.4#

 

I am maGogo (a granny)  #00:18:40.2#

 

But the people say I am still young.  #00:18:44.6#

 

No, I am not still young, I am Grannies Grannies.  #00:18:50.6#

 

CREDITS