Robyn Moodaly

Robyn Kimberly Moodaly (born 16 June 1994) is a South African football midfielder who has represented the South Africa women's national football team, including at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Robyn Moodaly was born in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She began to play football, as she was growing up, describing it as "being in my genes". Moodaly played mostly with boy's teams, since there were no girls teams nearby and eventually moved to Johannesburg to continue to play the game.

In 2013, Moodaly joined AIB College of Business in Des Moines, Iowa. She trained with the college soccer team but was unable to play in any fixtures in 2013 due to red tape. Moodaly played two games for W-League team Colorado Rush Women in 2013.

International career

While attending the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre, Moodaly came to the attention of South Africa women's national football team selectors who drafted her into the national Under–17 squad. Moodaly was then part of the South African selection at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. She made her debut for the senior national team aged 16 in January 2011. She only appeared for the under-21 team after she had already played for the senior side, switching back and forth between the two sides on several occasions. She attributed this to a lack of female players available. She was selected for the South African squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom.

During the following years, she was hampered by injuries, and fought to be fit in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was selected for the warm-up match immediately prior to the tournament, against world champions the United States. She was subsequently selected for the squad.