Martha Tembo: From being beaten over football to qualifying for Olympics

AARON MUBANGA writes “My father used to beat me, whenever he found me playing football with guys now he supports me and is very proud,” Senior Women National team midfielder Martha Tembo has said. Women football in Zambia has improved tremendously in the last few years and has seen the senior team making history, booking a place at the 2020 Summer Olympics scheduled for Tokyo next year. Green Buffaloes Women’s football club stylish left-back Martha is one of the players from the history-making squad. The ZamFoot Crew caught up with the 22-year-old to discuss her career so far both at Club and national level. Tembo was drawn to football from a young age and like many other female footballers, she was playing against boys. “I used to play football with guys when I was in Grade 6 and my school teacher somehow learned of this fact and then decided to start using me for school games. Later I was active in organised club football with Sport in Action before moving to Chibloya Girls (now called Nkwazi Queens) and I am currently with Green Buffaloes,” she said. She highlights that despite women being passionate and talented in the game of football, there are some unavoidable facts that make the game different from mens’ competition. Tembo notes the nature of women of having monthly menses gives them inconveniences, apart from cramps there are other uncomfortable symptoms like abdominal bloating, acne and headache – including migraine, irritability, general pains – especially backache, low mood, feeling generally emotional or troubled, insomnia and lack of concentration “Playing football as a woman you go through difficulties such as stomach pains which come naturally and it’s one of the negatives as a woman who plays football.” “Despite all that I am so happy with the growth of Women’s football in Zambia and am glad about my career that God blessed me with. I am thankful for the support I get from my teammates and I was even employed through football after beating Cameroon to qualify to the Olympics for the first time,” she added. Martha may be a Copper Queens regular player and employed in the Army due to football today but the journey has not been all smooth. Tembo is part of the whole conquering Green Buffaloes side that has won the Women’s league six times during the reign of FAZ Women’s national representative aspirant Col Priscilla Katoba as President of the club. Tembo was also one of the key performers for the Zambia Army-sponsored side during the first-ever FAZ Women’s national Championships which they clinched after a 9-0 bashing of Queens Academy in the final played at Nkoloma Stadium. The Sun