Moorosi Tsiane
LESOTHO tennis coach, Mojalefa Mothibe, has been selected to coach the International Tennis Federation (ITF) southern region team in the League One Circuit in Harare, Zimbabwe starting tomorrow until 19 August.
Mothibe recently told the Sunday Express that his team will be made up of eight athletes from South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia and Madagascar.
“It is an open tournament but ITF selects young players in our region on the basis of their performance from past tournaments,” Mothibe said.
“This is an under 18 tournament but my team will be made of players under the age of 16 because this ITF project focuses more on the development side.”
The 26 year-old former tennis player said this was his third assignment and he was happy to receive recognition beyond Lesotho’s borders.
“It is not the first time I have been granted such an opportunity and I am happy because it shows I am doing a good work and most importantly there are people out there recognising it beyond our borders.
“It is a good thing to step out of the comfort zone and face new challenges. Such opportunities help me to grow in my career as a tennis coach.
“Besides the experience, it is also an opportunity for me to make some money since I don’t make much in the country.”
He said he did not expect any serious challenges as he was familiar with the players, having coached some of them last year while he had seen the others in action at youth tournaments he attended with the Lesotho team.