At the third edition of the Africa Women’s Sports Summit, celebrated South African broadcaster, Thato Moeng shared some of the hurdles she had to cross to get to the top level in her field of work on the African continent and beyond
The SuperSport TV anchor is a household name in the sports journalism arena and a role model to many especially women.
But the journey to the top was met by many struggles.
Sharing her experience at the 2022 Summit held at Accra International Conference Centre, in Ghana’s capital, Thato narrated her long and challenging pursuit for recognition.
“I used to sit at press conferences where I was the only woman. I asked for the microphone and I was ignored because my quality was in doubt. I decided to ask my questions without the microphone regardless.
“It was so because there hadn’t been a woman at such press conferences, there hadn’t been women with their backpack chasing stories and all that.
“The more the challenges kept on pushing, I pushed harder. So it was definitely full of energy all the time. It does get tiring, it gets emotional all the time and I knew if things fall in place, it will be out of the hard work. You could imagine 10 years of no recognition,” she said.
Using her story to inspire others, Thato – who is married with a child – urged the young women in sports to stick to their dreams and also focus on what they deem as a win and not what others think.
“It is not about everybody, it is about you. What do you want? What is success to you? Is it about accolades or what you intended to do when you started?” she stated.
The Africa Women’s Sports Summit seeks to present a platform for mentorship, training and greater female inclusion in the African sports scene.
Started in 2019 by Ghanaian Sportscaster Juliet Bawuah, it is an enabler of initiatives that go a long way to help African women in sports attain their personal, community and career goals.
Special Guest for the 2022 event was Her Excellency Hajia Samira Bawumia, Second Lady of The Republic of Ghana.
Other speakers included Barbara Gonzalez, CEO, Simba Sports Club (Tanzania), and Naa Odofoley Nortey, a Private Legal Practitioner and CAF Match Commissioner.
The Africa Women’s Sports Summit is a Sportted Limited event.
