Africa-Press – Lesotho. After hanging up her boots in 2019, former Mehalalitoe midfielder Makobo Kepa has been working her way up in coaching as the second assistant coach to Kick4Life head coach Elizabeth Yelimala. Kepa started preparing for her coaching career even before retiring and began taking coaching courses from as far back as 2016.
Since then the former Lesotho international has acquired numerous certificates including a CAF C Licence, FIFA Women’s Football Coaching Course as well as a Scottish Football Association (SFA) Level 1 and 2, and she plans to continue with her coaching education further still.
Although Kepa is happily learning from Yelimala and Kick4Life’s first assistant, Puseletso Mokhosi, she has ambitions of being a head coach one day. Her goal is to work closely with players and help them develop by imparting the knowledge and skills she has gained during her career.
As Kepa prepares herself for that lead role someday, she could not have better people next to her to learn from. Mokhosi is a former coach of the national women’s team while Yelimala is one of the most experienced coaches in local football, having worked with both women and men teams as well.
The Zimbabwean mentor has worked with highly respected coaches such as former Likuena coach Leslie Notši for whom she was an assistant when Notši coached Kick4Life’s men’s team between 2016 and 2018. Like Mokhosi, Yelimala has also headed the national team Mehalalitoe, the pinnacle of women’s coaching in the country.
Kepa says although she is relishing coaching, at first her interest was in football administration, however, as kept on playing, she developed a love for coaching which is why she started taking coaching courses.
Helping players become the best they can be is what drives Kepa now and she says patience is a virtue when it comes to working with players. Some players may need more attention than others, she says, and it is important as a coach to stay level headed.
“I am learning a lot about coaching. I have been to courses but it is very different when it comes to the (training) ground,” Kepa says.
“When you are with the team you are with players and it is different because you are watching body language and their attitude. There are basics that the players must have, it’s not everyone who can dribble but ball control must be there.
Ball control and passing are the most important things to have in football and I think those are things everyone must have,” she adds. “You look at the player and see what skills they have and how we can help her.
Some arrive with no knowledge at all and you have to teach her, you have to be patient with players. Players will help you with their attitude because that’s important in football together with passion, it is difficult as a coach developing players because some really don’t know anything,” Kepa says.
The majority of the work or decision-making in the team lies with Yelimala as head coach but someone, as experienced as her, knows she has to share the workload.
Kepa says that’s where the assistant coaches come in and their job includes suggesting what needs to happen and when. Even though COVID-19 has affected football and caused forced breaks, Kepa has had something to celebrate.
Last month Kick4Life beat national champions Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) in the Dare to Dream
Championship final and Kepa says she could not have begun her coaching career any better than by beating the juggernauts.
She says the memory of winning the cup is one she will cherish for a long time. Kepa is hopeful of a long and successful career and she points out that just because one has played football before, it does not automatically make them good coaches.
“Just because you played football it doesn’t mean you can be a coach because in coaching it’s no longer just about you, you have to look after relationships between yourself and the players because football is just not in the field.
It starts from outside. You may have good players but they don’t perform on the field and you wonder where the problem is, so I have learnt that playing and coaching are two different things,” Kepa says.
Kepa started playing football from as early as six and played for various clubs notably Rovers Ladies before joining Kick4Life in 2014. She represented the national team over 20 times according to her, and she holds great memories from her time with the national team.
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