Three amazing powerhouses of women, from three different countries in the continent of Africa, will battle it out for honours in the Imperial African Woman in Sport category at the 2022 Momentum gsport Awards. A referee, a former football player, who also played abroad and a marathon runner.
The Imperial African Woman in Sport award was introduced in 2020 and was won by Ugandan media aficionado, Usher Komugisha. Another incredible journalist Juliet Bawuah took the honours in 2021. This award celebrates women who are impacting sport on the continent and go the extra mile to raise the profile of women’s sport in Africa.
gsport16 Style Star Winner Akhona Makalima is the South African representative in this category, she has truly has been an ambassador, shattering ceilings and doing what many would deem as impossible. She is South Africa’s first certified woman referee who was recently duty-bound in Morocco. She was one of the 40 referees carefully selected to officiate at the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations.
The FIFA accredited football referee is also one of the nominees in the Sasol Global Woman in Sport category.
“This announcement got me so emotional, my heart was filled with so much gratitude. It means that the sweat, hard work, dedication and discipline I put in at work is being noticed. I feel honoured to be nominated in two categories among other powerful women in sport.”
While the likes of Makalima doing their bit to show women on the continent and beyond that taking the refereeing path is accomplishable, more can still be done to make the journey easier for those looking to take the whistle and become FIFA accredited and referee across the continent and the world.
“We have more female match officials coming up, we just need to trust the process and support them. We really have strong women referees coming up. We obviously need more resources to support them, more exposure, more competitions. I’m excited about the future.”
Namibia’s Helalia Johannes became the first woman in the world over 40 to run 10kms in under 32 minutes when she sprinted to victory in the SPAR Women’s 10km race in 31.53 minutes at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, this in May 2022. Continuing her stellar year, Johannes finished third in the Commonwealth Games Marathon in Birmingham, snatching the bronze medal in 2h28:39. Johannes feels honoured to be recognised outside her country of birth.
“It come as a surprise, because I was not expecting to be nominated outside my country and with respect, I’m very happy and excited, I would like to thank South African sports for starting gsport4girls in the African Continent. I would like to thank Momentum that make this event to possible. Thank you.”
And last but certainly not least, former Uganda international Jean Sseninde is also in line for honours. Sseninde has plied her trade as a footballer in the United Kingdom, playing for the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace and lately Wakefield Trinity Ladies. Her latest brain child is the Jean Sseninde United Limited, a company that runs an academy for young ladies from the ages of 10 to 17 with the motto; “Together We Smile“.
“It’s such a humbling honour to have been nominated in this strong category on a platform for and by women in sports outside of my country of birth alongside other incredible women in Africa. gsport4girls is creating a platform for women in sports and it is a strong way of encouraging and promoting women’s sports in Africa. I understand, as women, we have had to fight to receive the smallest investments to be able to do what we love most in various sports disciplines. Therefore I give special thanks to every single woman out there who is working their socks off to make sure that women are the bosses of sport on the global stage and in Africa.”
As her post-playing career continues to flourish, Sseninde has presented at high profile FIFA and CAF women symposiums and was recently appointed to foresee women football development in South Sudan as a technical consultant. However, reflecting on her career it has had its challenges.
“For me, obviously being in Africa, it was taboo in our culture for women to play football. It was a massive problem for me to get the opportunity to start my sport at a young age. I missed out on the chance to get training from the best coaches who are qualified and also to get to master my craft early because women were not allowed to participate in football. Getting the opportunity to play in top clubs was such a hard hustle and when you get there and get exposed to so many good ideas, you cannot share them because speaking up as an African woman is classed as indiscipline. Starting my journey in the Sseninde Foundation even harder because you have to share your small salary to run the organisation. Of course getting sponsors is not as easy, so it has been very tough, but we have remained positive and strong. We shall not rest until we see women in sport in our continent given the best opportunities to become successful.”
Check out the latest women’s sport news in the Momentum-powered gsport newsroom and cast your vote for your leading #gsport17 candidate here.
(+1 rating, 1 votes, rated)
Loading...
