How Kgoloko Thobejane dealt with challenges of coaching in ABC Motsepe League
Former Baroka FC mentor Kgoloko Thobejane has revealed how he has dealt with the challenges of coaching in the ABC Motsepe League, having previously coached in the SA’s elite league.
In the SA third-tier division, Thobejane has coached teams such as Som United, Postmasburg FC, and most recently Super Stars FC.
Thobejane went on to say that coaching demands a lot of passion, longsuffering, or perseverance to be able to make it despite the level of league you’re coaching in.
He further stated that despite being faced with many challenges in the amateur league, with a lot of shenanigans happening in an attempt to gain promotion to the Motsepe Foundation Championship, he will never speak ill of match officials on how they handle games in the lower division.
KGOLOKO THOBEJANE ON ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE CHALLENGES
“To me, I’m one person for sure that in any sphere of life, I can calm myself at any given time in whatever situation. It’s not like it’s too challenging for me, at any level PSL, Motsepe Foundation Championship, SAB League or you take me to LFA I can be able to cope,” said Thobejane.
“With the challenges of refereeing, I have been practising this even when I was in PSL during my interviews I would never talk about referees even if something was not on my side.
“I used to tell my players to say, ‘Those guys are the ones who are taking care of the game and they are the ones who are making you grow’. You can’t play without a referee. Let them play their part and play your part too because you’re there to play not to talk to the referee.”
Thobejane continued: “So if you keep on interfering with how referees do their work, you can’t grow in football because you will be busy with something negative to your work.
“The situation in ABC Motsepe League to me was like a situation in PSL because I take it as my passion [work]. I’m very passionate about this thing. I don’t feel like there would be pressure on me when I’m coaching. I view those challenges as football at its best.”
‘THE PROBLEM IS HOW YOU VIEW IT’
The coach insists that coaching in the lower division isn’t a problem, but how one views it.
“Now, I can see that is about level. But the problem is how do we view this game. We as coaches view the game as supporters or chairmans. We have to view the game as tacticians because we are technical team members, so let’s view the game from that point of view,” he added.
Thobejane is currently upgrading his coaching badges, as he’s busy with the CAF C coaching license, having recently parted ways with Super Stars FC which gave him time to enrol for the coaching course.
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