Lekopanye Mooketsi
9 October 2008
Zimbabwean coaches are taking the Premier League by storm.
A majority of coaches working in the Premier League are Zimbabweans with the latest arrival being Rahman Gumbo at Township Rollers. Gumbo who has coached in his country and Malawi, has been described as a good tactician.
Other Zimbabwean coaches in Botswana include Barry Daka (Police XI), Raphael Phiri (ECCO City), Willard Khumalo (TAFIC) and Madinda Ndlovu (Nico United). Paul Moyo who was sacked by Notwane at the end of last league season is also from Zimbabwe.
Another Zimbabwean coach who has been in Botswana for a long time is Ezekiel Mpofu who came in the mid-1980s as Rollers coach. Other top clubs Mpofu coached include Mochudi Centre Chiefs, Gaborone United and TAFIC. During his heydays, he was reputed to be a specialist in retrieving clubs from the First Division. He is now a forgotten man and one time it was reported that he suffered a stroke.
Clever Hunda is another Zimbabwean coach who has been in Botswana for sometime. His first club was Police XI. Until last season, he was coaching the Lobatse-based BMC.
Other Zimbabweans who have coached in the country include Shepard Murape at Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Roy Barreto at Extension Gunners.
Besides Zimbabweans, other foreign coaches in the Botswana Premier League are from Zambia. They include Mike Sithole (Gaborone United), Stanley Mwaanga (BDF XI)and Beston Chambeshi (Chiefs). Dickson Ngwenya who has just parted ways with Rollers is also from Zambia.
Botswana Football Association (BFA) technical director, Sikalame Keatlholetswe said one of the reasons why most Premier League clubs prefer foreigners is that Batswana are in the habit of undermining each other. He said Batswana football administrators do not believe in local coaches and this culture applies in other spheres of life.
Keatlholetswe asserted that most of the qualified Batswana coaches hold full time jobs outside football. Such coaches are reluctant to leave their secure and well-paid jobs for football. Besides, the salaries offered by clubs to coaches are too low to attract qualified Batswana coaches.
Giving an example of himself, the former BDF XI coach said he could be working for a club if the pay was good. He said the BFA will continue to hold coaching courses to upgrade the skills of local coaches. He explained the dominance of foreign coaches in Botswana is not strange because that seems to be the trend even in some top footballing nations like England.
However, an official of Mochudi Centre Chiefs, Clifford Mogomotsi said there is shortage of Batswana coaches with higher qualifications. "If you advertise, no local coach will apply," he said. He added that most of the qualified Batswana coaches are employed elsewhere while others are working for the army.
He said since the former BFA technical director, Ben Koufie left, the association has not been running advanced level coaching courses. He said some of the qualified Batswana coaches prefer to coach in the lower divisions.
Mogomotsi said the advantage foreign coaches have is that they have worked in a professional set up. He said Batswana coaches have a shortcoming when it comes to experience. As for remuneration, the Chiefs official said they pay competitive rates. He said if a Motswana coach is qualified, they pay him accordingly, citing the example of Daniel 'Chicco' Nare who was an assistant coach at Chiefs at one stage.
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