Africa-Press – Lesotho. A few weeks before the start of the 2021 African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in Maseru, Lesotho’s Under-20 girls’ volleyball coach, Nthako Pekosela, expressed concern over the poor preparations of his team ahead of the games.
Pekosela lamented the limited time he had with his players as he was only able to work with them on weekends when they were not at school. Despite not having the time he wanted with his players, Pekosela backed his players to go into the competition and fight – not only for national pride, but for their personal pride as well.
When the time for competition arrived, Pekosela and his charges had nowhere to hide. They had to take the challenge head on and they made a brilliant start with a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe on the first day of Pool A action.
It was a dream start that gave the team confidence and momentum going into the second game against Botswana. Despite another good performance, Lesotho lost to Botswana but, fortunately, the team had already booked a place in the semi-finals against Namibia who had won Pool B.
At the time, Pekosela said he was satisfied with how his team played and acknowledged Botswana was a tough team to beat. The semi-final against Namibia was a walk in the park for Lesotho as they won all the sets to book a place in the final.
Reflecting back at his team’s performance at the games, Pekosela was quick to praise his players and said they performed beyond his expectations. He said their hard work paid off.
“I want to give all the credit to my players, they performed beyond my expectations, beyond what I know of their capabilities, it is one of the best I have seen in my career as a coach,” Pekosela said.
“They worked hard, in as much as they were listening to us, the decisions they were taking on the field were the correct ones and they supported each other.
” The final presented Lesotho with a chance to get revenge on Botswana.
Pekosela said when they lost their first set in the match, that was when his confidence in his team that they could win the final grew because they lost the set by just two points.
The coach urged his players to push harder and Lesotho won the second set to level the score to 1-1. Lesotho lost the third set and had to come from behind to level matters at 2-2 after the fourth set.
Having had to come from behind to tie the score on two occasions is what made the difference between the two teams mentally, Pekosela said. Pekosela said it is difficult to come from behind and end up winning.
He credited his technical team who, when faced with the reality that they had no time to train ahead of the games, focused on the players’ mental strength and confidence.
That work paid off in the final set that gave Lesotho the gold medal. When time ran out Lehakoe erupted into cheers as players, coaches and the authorised personnel that were allowed inside the venue celebrated.
Pekosela described the victory as his greatest coaching achievement and said it has motivated him to even work harder, not just for volleyball but for his country.
“Most of the time coming from behind is difficult because your opponents have momentum and confidence and I think it showed their mental strength which is what helped them a lot and us as coaches because we realised there was no time, we worked on their mental strength, uniting them and giving them confidence,” Pekosela said afterwards.
However, what does this achievement mean for volleyball in the country? While the country celebrates, it should not be forgotten the state of preparations the players and the coaches were forced into.
Going into the games, one coach warned that whatever the team would achieve would be in spite of the sports ministry and not because of them. The questions remain whether the games have brought any difference to the state of sport in this country and one could argue nothing has changed.
The volleyball players still don’t have equipment to use, a lot of equipment that was used at the games was borrowed from South Africa, including the indoor flooring that was used for basketball and volleyball.
In fact, all the equipment that was used at Lehakoe was borrowed, the only thing Lesotho owned was the scoreboard. After beating Zimbabwe in the first game, the minister of sports Likeleli Tampane was present and is said to have approached the players to congratulate them, and onlookers say nobody was excited about that.
Pekosela said he is hopeful for volleyball going forward but said the poor preparations they had to endure are not a recipe for future success. He warned the country cannot only rely on players’ strengths.
The players need help, he said. “I am hopeful, but to a certain extent, because what happened I don’t think can happen a lot with poor preparations like that, we cannot always rely on players’ strengths only,” Pekosela said.
“They should have time to train, have everything, equipment you name it, and incentives should be there to attract them to the games, and even for parents to know when they allow their kids leave that at least there will be something,” he added.
“It’s not all about money but life-wise and discipline-wise, we can go forward and I believe we are on the right track but we need support.”
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