With the assistance of a few other gogos from Khubvi village, Ms Emily Ramulifho has started a football team called Khubvi Old Ladies F.C. The team practices every day from 07:00 to 09:00 at the Khubvi Peace Makers Grounds, located in the Ethiopia section of the village.

Ramulifho is a seasoned footballer for the Vhembe District Gogos squad and has already played several games with the local squad. She also plays for the Limpopo Gogos Football Squad.

Last Thursday morning, the team was spotted hard at work during their daily morning training session.

When asked about her reasons for starting the team, Ramulifho said she helped form the team for health reasons.

“Before I joined a gogos’ team at Ha-Makhuvha village four years ago, I used to suffer from chest pains. But after a few weeks of training with the team, I felt better and the pains were no longer there. So, I decided to start this team in order to create a platform for other gogos to be able to exercise,” she said.

One of the players on the team, Mrs Shonisani Nethengwe, said she used to have knee pains and her chest was always heavy, but now she can walk and run with no problems. “I am calling on all the aged to exercise regularly in order to be healthy,” she said.

However, some of the players on the team said that exercising at their age was not simple, and younger women who had joined them were making things very difficult for them on the field.

“We are supposed to play against those who are 60 years old and above, but there are some who are under 50 years. They are very fast and always make fun of us with their pace and dribbling. Let’s play against our age mates only,” said Gogo Elisa Ratshivhanda.