10 Mar 2020

Zodiac Collabo Girls stunned Township Rollers ladies 1-0 on Sunday to clinch the annual Lobatse International Women’s Day Tournament for the second time in a row.

Rollers ladies dominated the well-attended match but the Collabo Girls weathered the storm and scored 10 minutes before full-time to win the pulsating encounter in Peleng.

Delighted supporters showed appreciation of the determined performance of the Lobatse team by invading the pitch in celebration when the Collabo Girls scored.

Township Rollers, on the other hand, clobbered Moshupa Classic 10-1, national ladies team star Refilwe Tholakela netting a quadruple in that match.

Mexican Girls settled for third position after beating Classic 9-1 in the third-place playoff.

Collabo Girls also beat Rollers through penalty a shootout last year to win the inaugural edition of the competition.

The competition, staged by the Collabo Girls in conjunction with the Lobatse based Berekela Botswana Monana (BBM) organisation, was used to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).

BBM is an organisation that sensitises the community on youth issues, sports and artistic excellence.

“The reason why we used a soccer tournament to celebrate IWD is that we wanted to show the world that women can succeed in a field that is male-dominated.

Most people who are in the organising committee of this tournament are women who are influential and have the desire to make some changes in Lobatse. We believe that we have to create a youth-friendly environment to empower the girl child,” said BBM founder Omphemetse Mmolai, an award-winning youth activist.

Omphemetse said girls needed a friendly environment to mingle with influential people to give them life skills.

She said the competition has grown compared to last year. “It has become bigger and better. Attendance was good and the teams gave their all.

We appreciate the organisations that have helped us to make this event a success,” she said.

The organisations that supported the event included among others the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC), Engen Lobatse, Batlatsi Transport, Bandleng VW Crew and BOCAIP. Lobatse deputy mayor, Tiny Dinoko helped to brand the medals.

Onkemetse Kwelagobe, who is a gender activist and was part of the organising committee, said the event was held under the theme: Generation equality in 2036.

“We should be able to appreciate the equality of our children regardless of gender. We should know that women can do whatever men can do, that is why women can play football which is dominated by men.

 Women have equal potential as men if they are given the relevant support,” she said. ENDS