While other girls of her age fear to work in a male-dominated sport, a resident of Makungwi village in the Nzhelele Valley, Lufuno Nemagovhani (25), took the bull by the horns when she chose football refereeing as a career.

Lufuno developed an interest at refereeing when she was still a player for Rabali Pull Together ladies soccer team, way back in 2000. According to her, she was recruited by the former referees’ selector for the Dzanani District Football Association, Mr Tshifhiwa Dali.

Two years down the line, Lufuno was sent to the inter-regional ladies soccer tournament which was staged in Bloemfontein. That is where she impressed the match commissioners. Upon her arrival back home, Lufuno was taken for fitness tests in Polokwane, where she succeeded.

It was after the tests that she started working as a match official for the now-defunct Magwaba Soccer League. Before long, she gained promotion to the Promotional League where she currently serves as a middleman. She is also a panel member in the Vodacom Promotional League (female category), apart from her being on the panel for the SAB League as an assistant referee. Nemagovhani revealed that her most memorable match was between Dopeni Mighty Comrades and Manenzhe Liverpool.

She said that she would not easily forget the final match for the Rudzani Ramudzuli Tournanent between Rabali Pull Together and Matshavhawe Chisampama which was played at the Rabali Stadium last December. That was where she was rescued by the tournament organiser, Rudzani Ramudzuli, as the players, fans and officials for Pull Together were baying for her blood, accusing her of favouritism.

She said that the situation took an ugly turn when Matshavhawe scored a beautiful goal on the stroke of full time. Pull Together argued that the goal had been scored from an offside position.