Botswana football has been orphaned by the passing on of Matshidiso ‘Sexton’ Kowa. ‘Bra Tshidi’, as he was famously known to football enthusiasts and all that knew him, breathed his last on Saturday at one of the private hospitals in Gaborone.
Kowa was a footballer through and through and loved the pig’s skin with all his heart. ‘Bra Tshidi’ was among the founding members of Mochudi Centre Chiefs. He was a player and coach at one point. In an interview with one of the local media, when explaining the formation of the team, ‘Bra Tshidi’ said the name, Centre Chiefs, came about because the meeting where the name of the team was decided was held at the Education Centre in Mochudi. But as fate would have it, ‘Bra Tshidi’ broke ranks with some people in the team and that is how ‘Mengo’ was birthed.
‘Bra Tshidi’ was patient with his project as the team rose through the ranks in the lower leagues until it was promote to the Super League in the late 80s. The team exhibited a brand of football that would leave one glued to the game. The team, however, lasted a season in the top league and was relegated to the lower division and has not been back until it joined forces with Gabane Santos. ‘Bra Tshidi’ was a great proponent of grassroots football development and this was good motivation for him to form Flamengo.
Even at the time of his death, ‘Bra Tshidi’ was back at Flamengo continuing his legacy of developing young stars. ‘Mengo’ as he fondly referred to his team, produced great players, some of who ended up plying their trade in some of the top teams in the elite league. At the time of going to print, the family was still finalising funeral arrangements.
