Upington official wins the hearts
When it comes to women administrators in SA football, the same names always pop up – Ria Ledwaba, Natasha Tsichlas, Nomsa Mahlangu and Mato Madlala.
However, there is a new kid on the block, Emma Hendricks, who made it into the new Safa council.
Hendricks was elected into the top office, hauling the third most votes behind Ledwaba and Tsichlas at the Safa elective conference in Johannesburg last weekend.
An official with the Correctional Services Department in the Northern Cape, Hendricks has enjoyed a rapid rise in elite football.
She became the first female to lead one of Safa’s 52 regions when she was voted president of the Siyanda region in the Northern Cape in 2016.
She was one of the federation’s only two women regional presidents, along with Eliza- beth de Koker, who was installed as president of Safa’s Thabo Mofutsanyana region in the Free State in February.
Hendricks said it “goes to show the changing times”, as she reflected on her latest elevation to soccer’s top echelons.
“I am glad Safa is leading this agenda. We don’t want to occupy the space for political expediency, but to show we are capable,” she asserted.
The mom of one also serves in the Northern Cape’s sport and recreation authority board. She has come a long way since her involvement in the game, dating back to the late 1990s.
“I have always been a follower and big supporter of the game of football.
“The bug got into me big time when I was elected deputy chairperson of our local club in Upington – Morester Jeug – and from there I never looked back.”
Hendricks also paid tribute to her teenage son – an aspiring player in the Castle League who is also in matric – for “fully understanding and supporting my career in football and sports in general”.