Coaches in limbo
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday February 5, 2021 10:31
Local teams have not played since sports activities were suspended last year March.
It only got worse this week as teams were preparing for a return, the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development announced a fresh decision to suspended contact sport in the face of the rising coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. One of football’s eminent sons, former Zebras coach, David Bright lost his life to the virus recently.
The suspension of football activities has, however, left Fakude’s compatriots in unclaimed territory as clubs are not keen to pay full salaries during this period.
“It is a dire situation morena I can tell you that no club has committed to pay full salaries when there’s no activity. We are only getting allowances, which is not even close enough to meet our daily needs. You will find that those allowances can’t even pay your rent, food or anything. It is just survival for a few days then from there you are back on your own with a lot of questions on how you will survive the other days,” Botswana Coaches Association president, Nelson Olebile said. He also said the worst scenario is limited job opportunities as the planning for the season has been put on hold. “We are supposed to be in the transfer window and coaches also make themselves available during this period. But tell me how are you going to get a job when there is no activity? Football feeds a coach’s family. It is a sad reality that we live in a place where football is not seen as an industry that makes an impact on people’s lives. But there are families where the only source of income is from football, at times it is not only the coach’s immediate family but also 10 other families behind. So tell me now how are we going to survive in these times,” Olebile questioned.
Next month makes a year since the football league was suspended and Olebile has called for the return to action. “As the coaches association our position has always been clear, we want football to be played because it’s part of our livelihoods, both coaches and players. We make our living from the game, we have families to support. Secondly, the game has proven to be a stress reliever. We live in a period where a lot of us are dealing with mental issues due to problems brought by the pandemic, but we are not using the game to aid in this as it has proven in the past that it is a game of joy and emotions. One other thing is that we are on the verge of going to AFCON, we still have a chance to qualify. So we need our players to be mentally and physically fit for the national team. This will make things for the (Zebras) coach easier.”
“For these reasons, I think we should be allowed to play but our players and coaches need to be educated and we will want a bit of responsibility from their side. At the moment our hope is for the cases to drop, and it should start with us football people so we can go back to the field,” Olebile said.
On his part, Notwane interim coach, Oupa Kowa said the suspension has brought about chaotic planning. Kowa had thought he will lead Toronto against Jwaneng Galaxy in an Orange FA Cup quarterfinal tie, which was scheduled for last weekend. Kowa predicts a drop in the standards of play due to lack of activity. “We only knew that sport is suspended just a day before the Orange FA Cup weekend. This disturbs our preparation. We cannot make use of the current window and this has taken us back in terms of preparation.
Usually, we have six weeks of preparation but at the moment we are not sure of anything. I have some players who are nearing retirement and it will be difficult for them to get to their best after going for a year without kicking the ball. Quality needs a lot of activity to be there, to build sharpness. I foresee a drop in the standard of play when the league resumes because our teams have been inactive,” Kowa said.