Phuti Lekoloane Age<\/h2>\n

He was born in Moletjie, Polokwane in Limpopo province, South Africa. His exact age is not known but he is between the age of 28 \u2013 29 years old.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Early Life<\/h2>\n

Lekoloane grew up in Tembisa. He says he was born gay and had always known he was gay. He always had a liking for sports, he played netball and football as a teenager.<\/p>\n

He played for\u00a0Highlands Park F.C and also played for\u00a0Platinum Stars F.C.\u2019s development team.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Phuti Lekoloane Career<\/h2>\n

Lekoloane played for JDR Stars, an ABC Motsepe League team, a Pretoria-based organization, on their SAFA Second Division team as a goalkeeper.^{<\/sup>\u00a0He wears the 91 shirt in honour of\u00a0John Moshoeu, a South African Nations Cup champion in 1996, who was his\u00a0mentor.<\/p>\n}

He left JDR Stars because of the homophobia but was later recruited by Tornado F.C., another SAFA Second Division team.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Dealing With Homophobia<\/h2>\n

He is South Africa\u2019s first\u00a0openly gay\u00a0footballer, after\u00a0coming out\u00a0publicly in December 2015.^{<\/sup>\u00a0His teammates have been mostly supportive, Lekoloane thinks because he has a good attitude and accepts himself.\u00a0<\/sup>However opposition teams and their fans have taunted and harassed him.<\/p>\n}

Lekoloane has dealt with\u00a0homophobia in the sport; at a team\u2019s trial in the mid-2010s, the organization\u2019s representatives said they did not know how to accommodate him, and thought he would be bad for their image.<\/p>\n

As of October 2017, he has been on trial with five Premier Soccer League teams but they were concerned about his sexuality.<\/p>\n

He feels the homophobia has held him back professionally from playing in the\u00a0Premier Soccer League.\u00a0^{<\/sup>He has vowed to be visible and stand up to the discrimination:<\/p>\n}

\u201cMY PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THE LGBTQI COMMUNITY IN FOOTBALL, TO FIGHT FOR INCLUSION AND EQUALITY,\u201d LEKOLOANE SAID. \u201cTHERE ARE A LOT OF GAY FOOTBALLERS, BUT THEY ARE SCARED TO COME OUT. I HAVE MET A LOT OF GAY GUYS WHO HAD TO RETIRE FROM FOOTBALL BECAUSE OF DISCRIMINATION.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Net Worth<\/h2>\n

He has an estimated net worth of $3,000.<\/p>\n

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