She has parents who support different teams, so watching the Soweto Derby is not always easy for singer and dancer Ntombee Ngcobo Mzolo.
Soccer Laduma caught up with the performer to talk to her about her love affair with football and why it's difficult to choose between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
You played for the Kaizer Chiefs celebrity ladies team quite a number of years ago. What can you remember about it?
I played for the Kaizer Chiefs celebrity team. I think I might have scored once. I think that was about 10 years or so ago. It was a while back. We played quite a few games. We played in Gauteng and North West. We would be the ones opening before the main game. It was not a once off thing.
What was that experience like?
It was beautiful, because most of us were struggling and trying to figure it out. When you watch football, it looks so simple until you have to play it. It's quite a difficult sport and I am athletic. I am quite good at everything I try out, but football did give me a challenge when I played. My husband tried to coach me, until he had to go play for some corporate club and he couldn't trap the ball. So, it's not as easy as it looks. I was quite fit back then, compared to now.
So, which team do you support?
It's complicated because it comes from my parents. They support different teams. So, sometimes I would support mom's team and the other time I am supporting dad's team. And then you just start supporting the winning team. You end up being in a position where you can't really choose.
So, what teams do your parents support?
I can't say. They will hit me if I expose them. But one supports Chiefs and the other supports Pirates. I think that's the only time they are separated because they do everything else together. I literally support both teams. I hate losing, so I go with the winning team. Football in my family is huge. They love football, from my grandmother and grandfather. They were the types who would turn into coaches in front of the television. The passion has always been there and I have understood the game since I was a kid. Going to the stadium became a bonding session at some point, so it's a family game. It brought us together most of the time. It's an excuse to spend time together and we just have fun watching the game. We've also performed at the stadium at half time as a family. We've performed at Chiefs games and we've performed at Pirates games. We've had the jerseys, so it has always brought us together.
You are living a stress-free life...
I don't want stress. I prefer a stress-free life. It's better this way.
Which football players do you like the most?
There are a lot, even from the time of players such as Helman Mkhalele and later Siphiwe Tshabalala. I enjoy watching (Thembinkosi) Lorch and (Nkosingiphile) Ngcobo.
