For Attridgeville resident, Mpho Makhoba, winning the coveted 2016 Gauteng Sports Awards Technical Official of the year is a true honour.
The softly spoken yet firm and decisive Makhoba, who is the Assistant Officiating Manager at Tennis South Africa (TSA), has certainly made her mark in tennis circles not only in the country but the continent.
Makhoba recently became the first African female to be awarded a silver officiating badge by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as Chief Of Umpires.
“Its nice to know that people are noticing what you are doing and appreciate your work” said Makhoba. “Winning this award means a lot to me, it gives me the drive to want to do more and share the experience I have accumulated over the past years with other officials”.
“I love tennis with all my heart and to be able to help put tennis out there to the nation humbles me” added Makhoba.
The glamorous awards which were held at Tsogo Sun’s Silverstar Casino in Mogale City last Sunday evening were hosted by the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts ,Culture and Recreation. The awards is a bid to reward the Province’s sports stars, technical officials and administrators for their efforts in keeping the passion of sport alive in the hearts of millions of South Africans through their efforts in local and international sports events. The main aim is to recognise and honour individuals and teams who have excelled both on and off the field on an annual basis which will culminate to the National Awards.
Makhoba was selected for the second year running for the award by the judges out of all the referees, umpires and technical official nominees, who through their sustainable high standards of officiating have rendered services at a national and international level.
