Johannesburg , South Africa ( CNN ) -- The training pitch is a dusty patch of ground used by the local police force as a car park , and the club house is located in a former women 's prison that held Winnie Mandela captive during the apartheid era . Two of the team 's players have been victims of `` corrective '' rapes -- Soccer City , this is not . The facilities of the Johannesburg-based `` Chosen Few '' lesbian football club could not be further from those of the glamorous teams that play in the 2010 World Cup , but the first such tournament to be held in Africa has proved inspirational to the members of this local squad . Ntombi `` Khampi '' Futhi used to play defense for her side , but after South Africa 's `` Bafana Bafana '' national team kicked off the opening game of soccer 's biggest event at the city 's new 90,000-seater arena a few miles away , she has turned her focus to netting goals . `` I watched many , many World Cup games . I 'm really enjoying it [ and now ] I want to be like Siphiwe Tshabalala [ the scorer of South Africa 's sensational opening goal of the event ] , '' she told CNN . `` The way he ran through the ball and struck the shot ... I want to be like him , I want those skills -- I love that goal so much ! `` I asked that my team try me in the striking force in the last game we played , and I scored ! I was so happy . My teammate crossed the ball , I trapped it and took a shot and that was my goal . I was shocked . I shouted : `` I scored ! '' It encouraged me to be a striker because now I want more goals . '' Chosen Few , South Africa 's only openly gay female football team , was created in 2004 by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women ( FEW ) to fill a void for many of the passionate , soccer-loving women who attended their sessions but who had been expelled from their township teams because of their sexuality . Can soccer heal a scarred society ? From their base in what was the notorious Old Fort Prison -- a jail that incarcerated Mahatma Gandhi , Albert Luthuli , as well as Nelson and Winnie Mandela before it was converted for other uses -- the group is hoping to use sport as a tool to address the issues of homophobia by playing other women 's sides in the area . Chosen Few 's coach Dikeledi Sibanda , 27 , told CNN that soccer had helped to give her strength . `` I love football , it is the only thing that kept me going when I was being hurt by what was happening at home and in my community . Soccer is my life , '' she said . Organizers hope that the all-lesbian team offers a safe haven for the players who previously suffered discrimination for being openly gay -- the worst manifestation of this being the `` corrective rape '' of two of the squad members . Phindi Malaza , program coordinator of FEW , said that South African society had not always proved an easy place to live for those involved with the team . `` One of our players , Tumi Mkhuma , was attacked in her township . She was out with her friends and these boys followed her . They beat her up until she was unconscious and then they raped her , '' Malaza said . From death row to defense : Soccer behind bars . `` This happened in 2009 but the police have still been unable to find the guy . We 're hoping they will keep pursuing the case as she stills lives in fear it will happen again . '' Sibanda added : `` They want to correct us , to show us what a man can do . They think that being a lesbian is immoral and uncultured . The corrective rapes are getting higher every day . '' Pinkei Zulu , the 23-year-old captain of the side , said she had been affected by what had happened to her teammate . `` I do n't walk at night now and I do n't party unless it is a gay night . I walk hand-in-hand with my girlfriend , but we get called names . I just try to ignore them , '' she said . History of the vuvuzela : Battle of the horn . Though the past of the players -- who warm up by singing protests songs as they walk to training every Tuesday and Thursday -- may be troubled , the coming of the World Cup to South Africa means they have their thoughts firmly focused on the future . `` We played in a tournament recently where we lost in the final 3-2 . But after watching the World Cup I wish my team would play like Germany , Argentina and Brazil because they play as a collective , not as individuals , '' Zulu said . Sibanda added : `` We are going to Germany to play in the Gay Games World Cup in July . In 2006 and 2008 we won bronze medals but in 2010 we will win gold . Bafana Bafana may not win the World Cup but we will win ours ! ''
South Africa 's only openly gay female team formed by women expelled from township sides . `` Chosen Few '' club based in what was formerly a notorious Johannesburg prison . Its players say they have been inspired by the World Cup being played in Africa . Organizers hope the team offers a safe haven for players who have suffered discrimination .