Let all sisters unite!  The soccer grannies are showing us the way.  Our job?  To do what they do.  Move it.  Shake it.  And don’t  give a whit what people say.

A wonderful article surfaced in the Los Angeles Times written by Robyn Dixon.  Its  underlying message is Sister’s mantra.

The setting is a South African township.  The characters are old ladies.  They play soccer.  While appearing lumpy and bumpy and limping toward the ball, these ladies know the secret to life.

The group began with the loving intervention of a woman named Beka Ntsanwisi who has performed extensive work in the rural communities of South Africa.  While working as a support network for sick ladies in the hospital, she introduced them to exercise.  As a light-hearted joke, she suggested they play soccer.

These grannies, the oldest being 84,  had significant health issues including diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure and other degenerative conditions.  They played a little bit each day.  They got stronger and felt better.  One woman, after using crutches for three years, was able to throw them away stating, “I’ve put my life in soccer.”

Word got out about the soccer grannies.  People made fun of them at first.  In their traditional roles, these grannies should be at home taking care of their grandkids, cooking and cleaning.  It was unheard of for a grandmother to don shorts and sports shoes.  They were ridiculed by friends and neighbors.  But they kept playing.  A sisterhood grew.

There are now over 40 women taking part in the granny soccer league.  Other teams formed in neighboring communities.  There are regular granny soccer matches.  Crowds gather to watch these women strut their stuff.  At the end of their game, these ladies will go home and return to cooking, cleaning and doing what is expected of them.  For a moment in time, however, these ladies lose themselves in play.  When they finish, they hook arms, sing and dance off the field.  Sisters, all of them.

So what does all this mean?  It’s very simple.  We don’t need fancy equipment.  We don’t need snazzy clothes, make up or the latest fad DVD.  We don’t have to look good.  Not ever.  All we sisters need to do is move.  Period.  It doesn’t matter what we do, but do something – a little bit – everyday.  And don’t worry about what others say.

Let’s get going girlfriends!

Sister is going to look for her old deflated soccer ball.  Game, anyone?