Thembi Kgatlana showed an interest in football from an early age but was forced to play with the boys due to a lack of opportunities in her community for girls interested in taking up the sport.
Football eventually lured her away from township life in Mohlakeng with a scholarship at the SAFA Girls Soccer Academy of TuksSport High School Pretoria which paved the way to an illustrious international career.
But Kgatlana first had to battle through gender stereotypes in her own community as her peers questioned her choice to play a sport they believed was the preserve of young men. Kgatlana started playing football at eight years old joining the local boys’ team before she was identified as a potential talent.
The young Kgatlana’s love for football attracted condemnation from the community while her parents were concerned about her safety.
“There was a lot of tension with me being a footballer at that age. You can imagine an eight-year-old going out to play football with boys. There is a lot you can think of as a parent that can happen,” Kgatlana told Radio 702.
“I can understand the frustration my parents had because I was still very young at that point, I was the only girl playing with the boys. There was a lot of fighting, and I was very rebellious because all I wanted to do was to play.”