What has tied Chico’s career in knots?
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday March 18, 2023 06:00
When Nare’s BMC finished second during the 2011–2012 BeMOBILE Premier League season, football fans acknowledged the impressive progress made by a product grown within local shores.
Here was a young coach making brisk steps up the coaching ladder with the whole world ahead of him.
But the remaining steps of the ladder have presented a trajectory potpourri. During one post-match interview, Nare remarked that coaching was not your ‘mme mpha bogobe’ kind of job. Time and the demands of the trade have proved him right.
Nare has seen a promising career refuse to decisively hit the home straight. It has taken him this way, twisted that way before plummeting headlong; with no choice conclusion. More than a decade later, Nare will admit his career is very much still a work in progress. It is the nature of the coach’s job, he will argue.
Bred in Lobatse, a town awash with a distinct music style influenced by the fast-paced pantsula beat of the 1980s and 1990s, Nare represents a rare class of coaches. His dress sense which is deep-rooted in the yesteryear style, resonates with the downtrodden and the general football family at large. Nare’s colourful character is seen as a sharp departure from your consummate professional coach, often defined by regular football regalia or a suit and tie on the touchline.
Those close to Nare describe him as an outgoing and interactive character. He is quick to strike a rapport with his players and is largely unassuming, they say. With a unique profile but equally credited with an astute football brain, ‘Chico Dance’ was tipped as the future Zebras coach. He has already handled Under-23 assignments, which was seen as a precursor to the big and ultimate step. But while he has danced to countless pantsula beats, Nare, like many others around him, will struggle to comprehend why his coaching career has not exactly hit the high notes.
He has been to big clubs, including the darling of Lobatse, Extension Gunners, a club that represents the football culture of a town nestled between the wooded hills.
In fact, Nare’s career is synonymous with Gunners where he saw countless talent blossom right in front of his eyes. Finkie ‘MaThousand’ Mothibi, Hendrick Moyo, Ofentse ‘Schalwyk’ Mmipi, Kemmy ‘Gweru’ Pilato and probably the cherry on top being Mothusi Copper, all strutted their stuff just metres from the pitch touchline that made Chico famous.
Last year, Nare celebrated his 50th birthday and still has some useful mileage left in his coaching career. But the expectation is that Nare should have reached the apex by now. A trophy here and a trophy there; but Nare has no major silverware to show despite the elegant path his coaching career has taken. Apart from Gunners, Nare has handled assignments at Morupule Wanderers, Miscellaneous, Security Systems, Orapa United and lately Mochudi Centre Chiefs, with mixed results.
He has changed all gears in his coaching career, but Nare will feel he is yet to engage the travelling gear.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, Nare will see an undulating background, but looking ahead, the future is unclear.
Nare would admit that his career hit a low when he was recently hounded out of the Chiefs job. A video of fans hurling insults at Nare had the local football family in unison condemning the unpalatable incident. Weeks later, the club announced, it had severed ties to end an uncomfortable relationship as the Kgatleng faithful has always viewed Nare as a thoroughbred Badleng son attached to rivals, Gunners.
As he retreats to the background, probably not for long, the affable Nare will look back at a career that has promised so much, but which is yet to deliver what many within and outside his profession, will consider as the ultimate prize; coaching the Zebras.