Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies’ veteran defender Bambanani “Juice” Mbane is on a quest to do for her community in Eastern Cape as the great Mahatma Gandhi proclaimed “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
Born and bred in the humble a small town called Sterkspruit, Mbane defied all odds and broke through all barriers that may have hindered her from fulfilling her dream of being a professional female footballer.
At the age of 34, the tenacious defender has played football at the highest level and achieved almost every feat that a woman footballer would dream of.
Mbane has played in the Olympics, plied her trade in Europe, won the Caf Women’s Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns, and clinched a gold medal with Banyana Banyana at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
It did not only end there, she was instrumental in Banyana’s historic run at the Fifa Women’s World Cup where they reached the knockout stages of the
competition.
Mbane briefly shared some of the plans she has in place as a way of giving back to her community and giving exposure to some of the young girls and boys who aspire to reach greater heights in life through sports.
“I am working on something big for my community in Sterkspruit, sort of like a tournament for both girls and boys where I’ll invite scouts from various clubs so that these kids can get motivated to work hard,” she told Sunday World recently.
“But most importantly, I also want them to get that experience and see what is expected of them when they get out there.”
Mbane has yet to put a date and venue to the initiative, but she predicts that it will take place in December during the off-season.
Based on her achievements and accolades in football, Mbane says she is a testimony that hard work pays off.
“I usually say to the young boys and girls who aspire to be professional athletes in my community that they should never allow the place or background that they are from to determine their future,” she told Sunday World recently.
“No matter where you are from – be it in the rural areas or townships, if you have goals that you have set for yourself, continue to dream, and work hard because you will never know who is watching at that time,” she said.
“Our journeys are obviously not the same but hard work applies to everyone and hard work accommodated by talent will take you far in life.”
