Matebele FC head coach Reneilwe Letsholonyane has reflected on the one major challenge he faced at the Botswana Premier League side during his debut campaign.
‘Yeye,’ as he is affectionately known, took over the coaching reins at Matebele in September last year, marking his first professional coaching role.
At the time of his arrival, the club languished in 10th place on the log standings, having collected just three points from their opening three outings. Matebele finished the 2025/26 season on ninth position on the table after accumulating 33 points from 30 matches.
In addition, Letsholonyane’s efforts have not gone unnoticed; the former Bafana Bafana midfielder has been shortlisted for the Coach of the Season accolade alongside Gaborone United’s Sean Connor and Reuben Njavera of Nico United.
THE CHALLENGE RENEILWE LETSHOLONYANE ENCOUNTERED IN BOTSWANA
Speaking to FARPost, the ex-Kaizer Chiefs star, Letsholonyane, opened up about the tactical and developmental difficulties of inheriting a squad heavily reliant on inexperienced talent.
“I think one of the major challenges was obviously competing at this level with about 60% to 70% of younger players, who were new and it was their first season in the top flight,” Letsholonyane told this publication.
“Obviously, those younger players were coming from amateur teams in the townships, where they had raw talent, and you still have to work with them in order for them to understand the level they are at now.
“But, I also understand that they are young and will make a lot of mistakes, especially technical mistakes, by being in the wrong positions, which end up costing the team. So, that was a challenge I needed to try to fix and minimise.
“Now, those mistakes are minimised. They now realise that there are certain moments when they should do specific things. They know why they should do certain things, rather than just dribbling for the sake of dribbling. So, now they understand when, how, and why they should dribble.”
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