Interview with Jean Duffy, author of SOCCER GRANNIES: THE SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN WHO INSPIRE THE WORLD
SOCCER GRANNIES: The South African Women Who Inspire the World by Jean Duffy tells the story of a team of 40 to 80-year-old women in rural South Africa who defy social convention to play soccer for the companionship and the health benefits it provides. Their strength and resiliency help them face life’s challenges with dignity, humor, and hope. They teach the rest of us that age, gender, and expectations cannot define an athlete.
An Interview with Jean Duffy
Q: Please tell us about your start at playing soccer.
A: I was in my mid-40s standing on the sidelines of the soccer field in Lexington, Massachusetts watching my daughters play soccer. I thought to myself, “That looks like fun. I can run five miles. Surely, I can run and chase a soccer ball.” I found a group of women just starting up and in was quickly hooked. I found it a fun way to exercise, I forgot about my to-do list for an hour, and these women became some of my best friends. Our group grew by word of mouth. Soon we were playing in leagues as well as pickup games.
Soccer was my first team sport of any kind. There was no girls’ soccer team at my high school or college. I have been playing for 20 years now. This later-in-life love for soccer has taken me places I never anticipated.
Q: How did this team of grandmothers in South Africa get started and how did you hear about them?
A: Beka Ntsanwisi, the founder of the team, has dedicated her life to helping others in her community. They call her the Mother Teresa of Limpopo for helping the impoverished with food, clothing, medical assistance, educational opportunities, and even constructing houses.
At age 35, Beka was diagnosed with colon cancer. She was in the hospital getting treatments when she saw older women suffering with diabetes, heart conditions, and limited mobility. Beka decided to convene an exercise group to improve the health of these women.
One day some teenage boys accidentally kicked a ball in the direction of this group of exercising women. One of the grannies kicked it and they hooted with laughter as the ball sailed in the wrong direction. Beka asked the boys to show the grandmothers how to kick the ball. The women had fun and said, “We want to play again.” That was the start of the Soccer Grannies team.
A few years later in 2010, South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup for the first time on African soil. This team of soccer-playing grandmothers found themselves in the international spotlight as the perfect human-interest story. My team saw one of the video news reels and felt an immediate bond to these women half around the world playing the game we loved.
Q: You would come to play soccer together on both sides of the Atlantic. How did you become sister soccer teams?
A: My women’s team invited the Soccer Grannies to play in an adult tournament being held in Massachusetts in 2010. Beka said right away, “We will come my sister.” We had huge hurdles to overcome, but five months later nineteen women streamed through the Boston airport.
These strong and resilient South African women have survived challenging lives and yet they displayed a contagious joy for life as they sang and danced on the sidelines of the soccer field. They were the clear winners of the over-60 women’s tournament division —perhaps not in goals scored, but with their spirit.
Our team visited them in 2011 and were treated to a South African experience far beyond what the typical tourist encounters.
Q: When did you decide to write a book about the Soccer Grannies? Had you always enjoyed writing?
A: One of my friends said, “This was amazing. Someone should write a book.” I tucked away that idea. In my mid-50s, I set aside my full-time engineering career and took a first creative writing class. I had never written anything other than emails and technical reports. I embarked on research to learn more about the history of South Africa and the societal and political pressures influencing the lives of these women. I was also entrusted with the life stories from a half dozen of them. Eight years after that first writing class, I am excited to hold a book in my hand. They even put my name on the cover!
Q: Now I see why you say you didn’t know where this newfound love of soccer would take you . . .
A: Yes, I now have this sister soccer team in South Africa and am the author of a book. Beka has been busy too. She now has over 200 women’s teams she has inspired across South Africa. She hosted a first-ever Grannies Football International Tournament in March of 2023 and is planning another for 2025. I am donating all book proceeds to the Beka Ntsanwisi Foundation to support Beka’s initiatives helping to improve the health of older women of South Africa. I encourage your readers to check out the book and spread the word about the Soccer Grannies!
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Jean Duffy is a nonfiction writer. “Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World” is her first book. Jean frequents the soccer field in Lexington, Massachusetts, where her team, the Lexpressas, has been playing for some twenty years. When not pounding her fingers on the keyboard or flubbing a shot on goal, Jean can be found consulting with nonprofits, helping people downsize, or at home in Somerville, Massachusetts, doing crossword puzzles with her husband. More at JeanDuffy.com. Follow Jean on Facebook at SoccerGranniesBook, on Instagram at SoccerGranniesBook, and on Twitter at Jean_G_Duffy.
Category: On Writing
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