26 to 29 June, 2027
Polokwane, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Organizer’s website: https://mamabeka-foundation.vercel.app/#gift
Calling all teams of women over 50, the 3rd Grannies International Soccer Tournament (GIFT) is scheduled for June 26 to 29, 2027 in Polokwane, South Africa.
It’s a cultural exchange-not an intense tournament that we would experience in the USA. We brought a lot of our older players to balance the teams. It’s about empowering the women and supportive of them and what they are trying to do, to improve their health and their value in the African society.
If you are thinking about going, keep these things in mind:
- It’s a life changing experience. You are IN South Africa-you are part of the fabric
- Let yourself be uncomfortable
- If you have very specific dietary restrictions-this may not be a trip for you. They can do vegetarian-but, its whatever they have and its really not an option to go out and get food for yourself
- You have to be flexible-you aren’t going to know everything up front but it usually works out
- You HAVE to be safe, stay in groups and not wonder off-it’s about your own safety but also if something were to happen to a player it would shut down this tournament forever
- Schedules can change even the morning of a tournament day
- We have a travel agent, that I will talk about later, and guides that have been with us the last 2 tournaments and we expect to use them all again-and they will all help with safety. Beka will also be hiring security personnel that will be on the tournament grounds.
- Check out this NPR reel about the 2025 event to feel the amazing spirit! While the level of play of the 11v11 tournament is becoming increasingly competitive with each event, attendees should view this as largely a life-changing cultural experience.
- Expect to budget $4,000-$5,000 USD for the 10-day trip, including a 3-day safari package.
- Plan to arrive at least 4 days before the first day of the tournament.
- Read the book “Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World” to get the backstory on this soccer movement empowering women.
Please email soccergrannies@gmail.com with any questions and you’ll receive helpful information about bringing your team.
- STEP 1: E-mail to soccergrannies@gmail.com to register your interest as a player or team manager.
- STEP 2: Once a team has 16 players, the USA contacts (Alison, Jean and Heather) will connect the team manager with the organizers in South Africa.
- STEP 3: The experienced travel agent with Rhino Africa Tours will consult with each players to organize their travel. Each traveler will book their own flights from their home airport to/from Johannesburg.
- STEP 4: Once payments are confirmed, the team can coordinate uniforms, collect sports gear donations to bring to the event, and prepare for travel.
Mama Beka Foundation:
- Beka Ntsanwisi dedicated her life to helping the impoverished in South Africa and has won many awards. She established the Beka Ntsanwisi Foundation.
- Much of her work has been focused on establishing football teams for older women – for the health benefits and supportive camaraderie of the team. This has grown so there are now over 250 teams in SA, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mozambique and she is going to Ghana the end of Feb to promote the program there
- This is crucial because of the critical role that grandmothers play in Africa – particularly in rural parts of South Africa. They are often caregivers for many grandchildren. This is stressful due to their financial situation and risks to their physical safety. This stress impacts their health. A lot of times they are alone because the parents working so they have the grandchildren full time. This soccer has given them a community they can count on. They also protect grandmothers thru this community-for instance, there is still a belief in witchcraft and if and elderly woman has dementia it can be viewed as witchcraft and they can be harmed.
- Beka is trying to improve this situation in two ways. Firstly she is trying to improve the support structure around the grandmothers, so that others encourage them to seek help
- Secondly, she is trying to empower the grandmothers to get out of the house and engage in meaningful activities – like football.
- I hope that this quick introduction can help you see how this tournament is important to propel her work forward.
Why are we going?
The main reason is to support our soccer sisters in SA. We have a long history now dating back to 2010- They had them come here to play in the Veterans cup in Mass-20 players and coaches. They didn’t win one game but everyone who played in that tournament remembers there singing/dancing and joy. Beka’s dream had been to have a Grannies world cup. First one she had was in 2023. She also had one in March 2025 and she announced that 2027 was going to be in Kenya. She has contacted us to let us know that SA is going to host it again-due to governmental unrest in Kenya and some fighting amongst the leaders of the team.
So this all goes way beyond soccer, these women now have a community they can count on-help with safety, food etc.
Economy of SA
Every tourist traveling to South Africa supports 4 workers for 1 year
How is this tournament different:
We are not sure where 2027 is going to be held in SA. Beka said that she wants it in another area of SA but she’s not sure where. It also very well could be back in the Limpopo region-where it was the last 2 times
Tournament play itself
The set up is 11 v 11 with 20 min halves. You will play full field and the fields are a combination of grass/dirt-very uneven. If we end up back on the field in limpopo, there’s a large section of stadium that we will sit in with all the other teams playing. All teams stay all day to watch every game. That time is a wonderful opportunity to interact with the women – dance together, hug and take photos, chat.
For instance, some of the teams in the USA have tiered levels with only the top tier playing tournaments. The majority of players in Africa have never played soccer and just started a couple of years ago.
Travel Logistics:
Health needs for each player/guest : There are no vaccine requirements as of now to enter the country. Recommendations are hepatitis A and B shots (3 shots, takes 6 months to get them all), malaria pills and typhoid. A travel clinic appt. is recommended. Some insurances may cover some of it. Call PCP for referral to travel clinic. Rabies vaccine is optional and very expensive. Also bring some antibiotics in case of an illness or infection. Bring medicine if you get GI issues (pepto, immodium and highly effective antibiotic) Its important to bring extra of your own prescription medication in case a flight is delayed.
Passport needs to be valid 6 months after we come home
Money: can exchange when you land in Jburg, credit card-suggest get one that doesn’t charge for exchange fees, can also use ATM’s to get money out (need to have a 4 digit pin) and there will probably be a fee to you from both banks. You will need cash for tipping the drivers/guides that you will have and if you do a safari the guides/drivers/staff at the lodge. They use Rand for money.
Travel insurance: I use squaremouth as it is like Kayak where it compares companies. Travel insurance goes up the longer you wait from when you paid your first deposit. Check your airfare because if it is refundable or can get credit and you are ok with that, you may not need to add this cost into the insurance.
Laundry: prepare to wash in your room-there is laundry service but for your game shirts, better to wash it on your own. Can get individual laundry packets at the travel section in Market basket (they also have soap/loofah together!)
Food/Water: Water is NOT good to drink. I put something over the cold/hot water faucets so that I am reminded not to use them. Bring an extra toothbrush. I say that because I usually will put it under the faucet at least once, before I remember and then I have the extra one ready! Use bottled water for brushing teeth and keep your mouth closed in the shower. Caution with food that is cut with knifes as they have been washed in the water- so fruit that has skins that you peel are ok (bananas, oranges). ANY food that is hot is ok. Only drink bottled drinks and make sure that the bottle has not been opened-most drinks are soda or water. At the lodge we were at in 2023 and 2025, drinks with ice are ok-no one got sick. Otherwise, NO drinks with ice.
Whats App: We used this app to communicate with everyone on the team while we were in SA.
If you use the travel agent that we have used in the past (Allison Bothma with Rhino Africa- allison@rhinoafrica.com)
Someone will meet each and everyone at the airport, (literally as you are walking out of the tunnel from the plane-usually with your name on a white board) to help with luggage and navigating customs. They take you from the other side of customs, out of the main airport area and to the elevators to the hotel-where everyone stays overnight. We did this because of the number of different flights people were coming in on and then we all got on the bus the next day. Get a carrier to carry your luggage. (Menzies is the name of the company that the travel agent arranged to meet us)
Dinner on your own at the airport hotel
The travel agent organized boxed breakfast and lunch from the airport hotel
2 buses (30 people/bus) with guides and a drivers for the entirety of our stay-bring us to Tzaneen lodge and to/from all the games, if needed sightseeing, transfer to the safari lodges (The guide was wonderful about explaining the culture and history.)
If tournament is in same Limpopo area, Tzannen lodge was great. Buffet breakfast included
Dinner at Tzaneen lodge on your own for most days-will probably be buffet style
Will brought our own water/snacks/food during the tournament game days (3-4 days). May get a boxed lunch if you want but it is honestly so hot, I think most of us were fine with bars/dried fruit etc. (If tournament is in June, it will be cooler.)
Teams should buy extra waters for the team-easy to stop at a store. The guides will help with this.
Security:
THIS is their number one priority. My understanding is there SHOULD be an extra security presence at the hotel and there definitely will be at the tournament. You do feel safe. But we all have to be smart individually. It would be absolutely devastating if something happened to any of the players who have come to their province, devastating for us and for our hosts. So, here are the rules we laid out for our teams:
PLEASE, here are some common sense suggestions that we hope everyone will follow:
1) Do not bring any jewelry, no rings/necklaces- wear an old watch, don’t bring the apple watches, really anything of value.
2)If your flight gets in at an earlier time, please do not go into Johannesburg on your own. You probably are going to be tired anyways and the Johannesburg airport is safe to walk around and there are shops-just for extra safety go with someone else.
3) Just to have the utmost safety, we will travel from the airport hotel to the Tzaneen lodge directly. There are bathrooms on board the bus, we will stop at travel stops (like ours on the highway) and we will be getting box lunches.
4) Do NOT go off the property of any of the hotels/lodges we are staying at without one of the SA guides or security. If a guest is not accompanying us to the stadium some day, they can book a guided tour with the lodge.
5) When you are walking about the property, please walk with others if you are going outside of the buildings. The lodge has some beautiful areas for walking.
6) At the tournament, please take a few friends when you go to use the bathroom. There is security but just for extra security. We can all help each other stay safe.
Committees– we had-don’t necessarily need to do this
US Fundraising/Sponsorship (maybe?)
Donations-suitcases and clothing, expectation is to bring one suitcase for yourself and one that will be left for donations with Beka and crew..
Should get a letter saying that this is donations from Beka-we can help with that
Shirts/opening ceremonies– Opening ceremonies will also require some clothing for players and family to wear that represents our country. Also will need to create/bring game shirts-we brought two, one white and one colored
Music-having a song to sing. Everyone sings and dances in SA.
Health- making sure players get vaccines ( malaria, hep b vaccines, etc) and plan first aid kits to bring to the tournament in case of injury or illness
News/media, social media– Players interested pushing out content on an instagram account and may have contacts with news etc. about the tournament. Beka loves to receive videos of players excited to attend the tournament. Someone to organize players sending videos. She shares them to build excitement.
Following the tournament:
Allison (from Rhino Africa) organized all the add ons after the games. Last year, you could choose safari, Cape Town or Victoria Falls. You could choose one or all three. Players didn’t necessarily have to go together. She also organized spouses to meet the players at the safari lodges, if they didn’t want to come to the tournament. Lots and lots of flexibility. She also organized some other players to go to other parts of Africa. Whatever you want to do, her company can do it for you!
All lodges were very lovely. We never heard any complaints from anyone. We brought 55 players in 2023 and about 35 in 2025.
CDC guidelines for travel to South Africa: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/south-africa#vaccines-and-medicines
Hep A,B, Malaria, routine vaccines, typhoid, COVID (up to date with vaccines)
UK Travel Advisory: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa/safety-and-security
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