Latest news with #GranniesWorldCup
Local France
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Local France
France suspects murder in stabbing of British woman
Karen Carter, who played for the local "Queens of Football" team amongst many local activities, was murdered in the southern village of Tremolat last week. A man, with whom Carter had been in a relationship for several weeks, called police after he found her body next to her car late on April 28, prosecutors have said. Police initially detained the man, but rapidly released him again saying there were no "suspicious elements against him". They then detained a 69-year-old woman from Tremolat who had been friends with Carter, but freed her after checking her movements on the day of the murder. Advertisement Carter suffered eight stabs wounds of "particular violence", investigators said Wednesday as they announced that an investigating magistrate had been appointed to look into the murder. The "Queens of Football" on Saturday held a minute of silence for their former player, the group said on its Facebook page. One player described Carter as a person who "loved life", and had only just returned from South Africa where she and others played in the "Grannies World Cup" in April. Joelle Mayer, who played for the team, told AFP that the British woman was an active member of the community in the village of some 600 inhabitants. "She was a charming, serene woman who loved life. She was always smiling and much loved here," she said. "We're all in shock." She said Carter always joined local initiatives and last year was among players on the team to strip naked for a jokey calendar to raise funds for the trip to South Africa. An online sample of the 2025 "Queens of Football" calendar, which went on sale in October, shows black and white pictures of the players in which their faces cannot be seen. But, said Mayer, Carter did not speak much about her private life. On that, "she was also secretive and guarded," she said. Her husband Alan, who lives in South Africa, told France Bleu radio that he learnt about the death through a cousin. He said he and his wife and he were not divorcing but going through a tough period. The couple had two sons and two daughters in their twenties and thirties, leading their own lives in Britain, the United States and Australia, he said. He said he and his wife decided to buy a cottage in Tremolat after spending a holiday there 15 years ago.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Selfies, goals and cheers at South Africa's grannies World Cup
Mbele Nonhlanhla's team Vuka Soweto hails from the famous township outside Johannesburg (Phill Magakoe) Mbele Nonhlanhla laced up her silver cleats as her coach shouted encouragement to the creaky knees, stiff backs and laboured breathing in a dressing room in South Africa's far north. At 63, wearing jersey number 10 and sporting brown-dyed hair, the grandmother of seven was far from your typical footballer when she stepped onto the field for her first international tournament. Advertisement "I feel like a superstar," Nonhlanhl grinned, revealing a missing tooth. "They call me the goal machine." Her team, Vuka Soweto, hails from the renowned township of Soweto outside Johannesburg. It had joined more than a dozen others from across Africa and beyond to compete this week at the Grannies International Football Tournament in the northern province of Limpopo. The four-day "Grannies World Cup" was held in a stadium with sweeping mountain views. The 30-minute games were played in two halves at a slow but purposeful pace, between teams from as far as the United States, France and Togo. Advertisement "It is all about active ageing. Whether we win, lose or what, it is all about coming here and staying fit," said 62-year-old South African Devika Ramesar, a mother of two and grandmother of five. Until this week, the Liverpool fan had never stepped onto a football pitch. Kenyan striker Edna Cheruiyot only had two months to learn the "long list" of football rules before Friday, when she scored her only goal. She took selfies to remember her first ever trip abroad and send to her grandchildren. - The old neglected - "I feel nimble. This is the lightest I have been since my first child in 1987," Cheruiyot said, adjusting the blue headwrap covering her greying hair. Advertisement At 52, she is a youngster within her team, whose oldest player is 87. The idea for the tournament arose in 2007 as a way to improve the health of local women, said founder Rebecca Ntsanwisi, 57, who is fondly called Mama Beka. It came out of her sense of personal challenge following a cancer diagnosis that once bound her to a wheelchair. "The older women need to come together and enjoy. We are neglected," she told AFP outside the home where she lives with her ageing parents. She hopes to host the next tournament in Kenya. Almost 40 percent of South Africa's children live in households headed by their grandparents, according to government statistics. Advertisement That is mainly due to poverty, cultural traditions and urban migration. But grandmothers should not be saddled with the responsibility of raising their grandchildren, Ntsanwisi said. "This is our time to enjoy and relax," she said. "I will die knowing that I did something." Chris Matson, 67, took the advice to heart and travelled from the United States to "enjoy every second of the tournament". "I did not play when I was little so to do it now is wonderful," said the bubbly goalkeeper for the American New England Breakers team. - Rolling back time - The team doctors, however, were earning their keep. Advertisement The aches and pains of the elderly players needed constant checking, South African team medic Diana Mawila said. Some members of her Vakhegula Vakhegula team had to be monitored for high blood pressure before every game. Vakhegula Vakhegula means "grandmothers grandmothers" in the local Tsonga language and is a nod to the national men's team, Bafana Bafana or "boys boys". But the team disagreed with Mawila's assessment and burst into heartfelt laughter. "We are fit!," captain Thelma Ngobeni said, balancing on her head a packet of maize flour that players had received after the games. Advertisement "It is not about winning or losing. All that matters is that we showed up, had fun and did our best," she said. Nonhlanhla's goal was more ambitious. A dream of making it big in football was within reach, she said. "It's never too late to achieve your childhood dreams. I don't see anything stopping me," she added, walking out of the brick-walled tunnel to face France. In a scene mirroring professional football, the crowd erupted in applause as teams entered the stadium hand in hand with young mascots and national anthems played. "I'm halfway there, right?" Nonhlanhla smiled. ho/jcb/gil
