Ria Ledwaba+s dream of top-flight soccer has come true as her team, Ria Stars, are in the premier league Merryman Kunene Being the youngest child and the only daughter in the Rasebotsa family, Ria Ivy Ledwaba+s formative years were heavily influenced by her soccer-mad brothers – who either played for or supported Pietersburg+s most famous team of the era, Seshego Stonebreakers.
-I was always very passionate about football,+ she says. -When I was growing up, every Sunday I went to matches either with my brothers or friends.+ One of her childhood friends is none other Bafana Bafana coach Trott Moloto, who also hails from the Northern Province. -Nobody can claim to know Ria better, and I can tell you she was always passionate about soccer. Even at high school she was already showing great passion for the game,+ says Moloto. One of the key words in describing Ledwaba is passion. When she talks about soccer it is obvious she is in it for the long haul. Besides her family influence, Ledwaba says she was also inspired by another pioneering soccer woman, Gloria Hlalele. Hlalele might be a forgotten name today but she played an important role. -Gloria was the first woman to own a football team in South Africa and really inspired some of us,+ says Ledwaba. Hlalele filled the roles of captain, coach, trainer and key player of the team she called Gloria Stars. Ledwaba+s march to stardom started with a chance encounter with a group of township boys playing barefoot in Seshego. -I was driving by when I saw a group of small boys playing soccer, barefoot with a tennis ball. I stopped and watched. -Afterwards I asked them if they would like me to try to get them into the Chappies Little League. They were very enthusiastic, so I registered them under the team my husband played for, the Seshego Naughty Boys.+
The youngsters graduated to the under-21 ranks and she entered them into the Toyota knock-out competition. While she admits she never won the tournament, the boys made the finals almost every year. -The boys were not demotivated by the defeats, instead they were very happy to have reached the finals.+ At that point, running a junior side for Naughty Boys seemed to lead to a dead end and Ledwaba responded by registering her own team. The players wanted the new team to be named Ria Stars. Playing in the dusty stadiums of Seshego with promotion to the top division as a target required tenacity and precision planning. -Nothing beats proper planning and a clear vision when one wants to achieve certain goals in life,+ contends Ledwaba. Hers was a 10-year plan which culminated with Ria Stars clinching promotion to the premier league this season despite the hurdles and dirty tricks orchestrated by some of her competitors.
Even before Ria Stars were promoted, she was voted the Shoprite-Checkers/SABC3 Woman of the Year of 1999. -That was a real surprise, particularly because I do not even know who nominated me. But I must add that being woman of the year has opened a lot of doors for me.+ Everything seems to be going right for Ledwaba. Here is a woman who is trendy, good looking and free spirited. She has a rare gift of dealing with men in a way that inspires them to give her what she wants without intimidating or making them feel used. Most soccer men grudgingly admire and respect her. Says Moloto: -I am not surprised by what she has achieved in life so far, but still I am very impressed and proud of her. Back when we were kids it was difficult to tell what was to become of one. In the same way that I never dreamed one day I would coach the national team, no one would have thought of a Seshego girl owning a premier league team.+
Ledwaba seems oblivious to all the admiration and accolades. She has stuck to her plan of turning Ria Stars into one of the household names in South African soccer. All the admiration and respect she gets from her male colleagues pale in significance to that which comes from her husband and family. -It is unfortunate that I have not spent as much time at home as I would have liked and my husband understands my position.+ Some women might say this kind of understanding and support has been sorely lacking from husbands, while women have stood behind their successful men for many years. Ledwaba prides herself on being an independent thinker, a dreamer who has flourished by recognising that other people can play a role in her life and her team. She says it is erroneous to attribute her success to her individual brilliance alone. -Making a success of any venture requires that a woman has faith in the people she works with – and that is why I have brought in the likes of Chicco Twala to assist me in the running of the team.+ Ledwaba is involved in organising the African Cup of Nations for women, which runs from October 14 to 28. As a director of the tournament, Ledwaba has brought in the same kind of enthusiasm and commitment which characterised her team+s meteoric rise from the lower divisions. -We are looking at using Orlando and Vosloorus stadiums for the games and hopefully we can make Banyana Banyana as popular as their male counterparts.+ The dream does not stop there. -People must realise that I am in football forever and ultimately I would like to represent South Africa in [world soccer+s governing body] Fifa,+ says Ledwaba.