The Telkom Woman of the Year award is a hotly contested affair as we see powerhouses shortlisted as finalists for the 2022 Momentum gsport Awards. Captain of the SPAR Proteas, Bongiwe Msomi, 2022 WAFCON Goalkeeper of the Tournament, Andile Dlamini and one of the leading women endurance cyclists, Ingrid Avidon.
No stranger to this category is SPAR Proteas captain and Roc Nations athlete Bongiwe Mmosi who is nominated for the second consecutive time. Msomi, has throughout the years, led the SA Senior Netball team from the front. Not only is she an admirable leader and charater but she’s one of the best players the game has ever seen. Outside the netball court, through the Bongi Msomi Legacy Project, Msomi gives back to her community, giving hope and inspiration to the next generation of netball players as well as assisting underprivileged communities with resources such as playing kits, travelling expenses and food.
An elated Msomi: “I feel very honoured for being nominated, firstly I think that its always great to be recognized for what we what we do especially as female athletes and sport woman I would say. There’s quite a lot of work that we do behind the scenes before we get to be athletes and probably the coaching part of it, mentoring other athletes. So for me it gives me more pleasure of wanting to do more of what I do and just, probably loving it more.
Banyana Banyana and Mamelodies Sundowns goalkeeper Andile Dlamini and her magical hands denied many teams goals against South Africa in the TotalEngergies WAFCON. Dlamini was the shot stopper in all six matches, keeping three clean sheets, conceding just three goals. These heroics earned the 29 year old the CAF Goalkeeper of the tournament accolade. She could get more silverware should she win in this category. “I feel honoured, I feel blessed, I’m thankful, I’m so excited and so grateful. This means so much to me. This is something I’ll cherish forever in my life”.
The gsport newsroom has, over the past year, highlighted the importance and power of recognition and the Sundowns Ladies skipper believes that recognising excellence is crucial to in instilling the ethos of “hard work pays off” to the younger generation.
“It’s really important for women to be recognised for their performances on and off the pitch, because it encourages them to do more, it inspires the young ones that excellence is celebrated so that they can also want to do more and work hard so we can keep the winning mentality in our country.”
With so many achievements just in this past year Dlamini says winning the gold medal and qualifying for the World Cup again with Banyana is right up there in the biggest highlights of her career. “Being the first South African goalkeeper (male and female) to win goalkeeper of the tournament with my club and country, winning the CAF Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns, there’s so many career highlights but those stand out.”
If patriarchy wasn’t in the way I’m certain Superman would originally be a woman (Superwoman) or the two would both exist enjoying the same prestige. This character would be modelled by this next finalist: Ingrid Avidon. Earlier this year, Avidon ascended and descended the Westcliff stairs in Johannesburg a 177 times, marking the beginning of her 12-month extreme adventure challenge. A challenge believed to be the first of its kind, especially for women, entails completing one extreme challenge for each month of the year. These challenges range from canoeing for 240km over four days in the Berg River Canoe to participating in the Ironman Gqerberha challenge.
This 12 x12 challenge allows the former physiology lecturer from the University of the Witwatersrand to sponsor women who are extreme and endurance development athletes who do not have sufficient access to infrastructure, resources, and support.
“I am very honoured and very surprised. This is really not what I expected at all! When I set about planning my ‘12 x 12 challenge’ of one extreme endurance challenge per month, my goal was to do something quite bold and different that would push me way beyond my comfort zone. I needed to discover just how far I could push my body and test my mind. I really wanted to show girls and women that nothing is impossible: you are not defined by your gender or age. I am a privileged South African woman: I have the social, financial and family structure that allows me to “test my limits” and to learn about myself. Unfortunately, for so many other women this is not possible. I wanted to include less privileged women in as many of my challenges as possible. Women are beautiful. We are also tough and resilient. The self-affirmation that comes from attempting a really tough physical (and mental) challenge is life-changing.”
Every woman can take a page from Ingrid’s life, she shares these pearls of wisdom.
“I am not a provincial or national athlete. I am a healthy, middle-aged woman on a journey to show other girls and woman that nothing is impossible if you plan, make a commitment to yourself, prepare, ‘show up’ and then try. Be yourself, but just do your best. There is no shame in failure. We learn from our mistakes.”
Check out the latest women’s sport news in the Momentum-powered gsport newsroom and cast your vote for your leading #gsport17 candidate here.
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