Sport
Landmark
Grace Nyinawumuntu
born 1980
Rwanda's first woman international referee and first woman national manager
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Rwanda Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
Footballer, then the first Rwandan woman to referee internationally, then the first to manage a Rwandan national side — three firsts in one career.
Grace Nyinawumuntu played football at a time when very few Rwandan women did, and then moved into the two parts of the game that women in the region were even less welcome in.
She qualified as a FIFA referee and became the first Rwandan woman to officiate at international level, taking charge of matches across Africa in a role where the abuse is loud and the scrutiny is unlike a player's.
She then went into coaching and became the first woman to manage a Rwandan national team, working with the women's national side and in the development structures behind it. Rwandan women's football has been built in the years since the genocide largely by a handful of people prepared to do several jobs at once, and she is the one whose name is attached to the firsts.
She qualified as a FIFA referee and became the first Rwandan woman to officiate at international level, taking charge of matches across Africa in a role where the abuse is loud and the scrutiny is unlike a player's.
She then went into coaching and became the first woman to manage a Rwandan national team, working with the women's national side and in the development structures behind it. Rwandan women's football has been built in the years since the genocide largely by a handful of people prepared to do several jobs at once, and she is the one whose name is attached to the firsts.
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