All a 14-year-old girl wanted to do since she was small, was to play football with the boys.
Omphiwe Coko from Khayelitsha, who is in Grade 8 at Curro’s Meridian Pinehurst School in Durbanville, was only four years old when she joined the boys playing football in the street.
Despite the challenging circumstances that usually come with living in a single-parent home in an underprivileged township, this early start bore fruit as she was now selected to play football on the world stage – in the upcoming Gothia Cup, which will take place in Sweden.
It is the world’s largest youth football tournament and will take place from 13 to 24 July.
Omphiwe will represent Cape Town’s Rainbow Team in the girls u-16 category, after impressing with her talents on the pitch, according to a media release by the school.
Her team will join 1 700 other young footballers from 80 different countries around the world. Together they will play approximately 4 500 matches on 110 pitches across Sweden.
Her mother, Nandipha Coko, who works as an administrator at an agricultural company in Montague Gardens, said to TygerBurger she never once bought her daugter a doll to play with.
“She always wanted just a ball, since she was small. I am very proud of her,” she said.
At the age of five years, Omphiwe followed her older brother, Naba (18), to the Morning Stars football practices and she soon joined the junior boys teams.
After Morning Stars Omphiwe joined the girls’ RV United Team for a short while. “But she did not like to play with girls and went back to Morning Stars, where she played with boys until she was nine,” Coko said. She also has a younger son, Liqhame (8).
From there Omphiwe joined the girls’ RV United Team for the next three years under the guidance of coach Vuyo Kayem, who quickly became her biggest fan and paternal role model.
He encouraged her to apply for the Ruta Sechaba Foundation programme, which provides school scholarships and bursaries to underprivileged learners at Curro and Curro-managed schools.
Thanks to her sporting talents, Omphiwe was able to join Meridian Pinehurst at the start of this year.
Her big breakthrough came last month when RV United played a match against the Rainbow Team.
The Rainbow Team coaches immediately recognised her talent and offered her the opportunity of a lifetime – to join the team competing in the Gothia Cup.
Omphiwe currently spends most days at practises between the two teams and commutes from Khayelitsha to Clifton for her evening practise sessions with the Rainbow team coaches.
“Being selected means the world to me,” she said.
“This will be my first time travelling abroad and I am so happy and excited and feel very privileged to be able to represent the Rainbow Team.
“Playing football brings joy to my heart, and I hope my selection will encourage others not to give up on their dream,” she said.
Dean Marsh, executive head at Meridian Pinehurst, said they are exceptionally proud of Omphiwe’s success and wish her the best of luck in Sweden.
“She is another great example of how important the Ruta Sechaba Foundation initiative is – in not only providing deserving learners with quality education, but also exposing them to opportunities that excel their passions,” he said.
