Leemisa Thuseho

TWENTY-ONE Lesotho Institutions Sports Association (LISA) teachers last week completed a five-day Confederation of African Football (CAF) D Coaching License at Bambatha Tšita Sport Arena.

The course which started on Monday, was instructed by FIFA Instructor- Sheryl Botes from South Africa.

Botes yesterday said the course was challenging to conduct after discovering that most of the participants had never kicked a ball a before.

“It was challenging especially on Monday but things improved as time went on,” Botes said.

“The situation forced me to start teaching them from scratch. I taught them everything about football as well as how to become coaches and conduct training sessions. We did a lot of theory.  However, the most challenging part was the practical.”

Botes said there was a need for the country to start aggressively developing women’s aggressively.

“The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) must approach women’s football aggressively. The new coaches must go out and improve women’s football and bring the Lesotho national team on the map through the knowledge they have acquired.”

LeFA secretary general Mokhosi Mohapi proposed to call back the instructor in June to mentor the coaches as the trainees were not yet ready to handle business on their own.

“We are not convinced yet that you can stand on your own and deliver what you have been taught, so I am proposing that Botes returns, probably during the winter vacation, because we cannot disrupt your classes,” Mohapi said.

Course coordinator ‘Malineo Makhang, who is also LISA deputy secretary, said they were happy with the opportunity and believed that it would help improve football at school level.

“Now that we have women coaches, it will be easy for them to have a say in the technical department and ladies’ football will also be taken seriously,” Makhang said.

She said they are looking forward to introducing a girls’ under-15 league with which the new coaches are expected to work with.