Motang pushes ahead with goalkeepers' academy
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Thursday April 23, 2020 19:01
Motang runs a goalkeeping development agency named Wild Cats whose aim is to identify, nurture and develop upcoming goalkeepers in the country.
He is currently at Township Rollers as goalkeeper coach. He is credited for bringing the best out of the likes of Kabelo Dambe, Mwampule Masule and Keeagile Kgosipula at Rollers. His academy, which was established three years ago, came after the former shotstopper realised there was a dearth of goalkeeping talent in the country.
The academy has already produced goalkeepers such as Kabelo Maphakela (Rollers), Thabo Motswagole (BDF XI) as well as Lesenya Malapela (Orapa United). 'My hope is that we will eventually register with the association. The only difficulty is that as with other academies, it has been hard to meet the terms of registration,' Motang said. He said some of the requirements are beyond their reach hence they have not been able to register with the association as yet. He also said to complete the registration, academies have to meet certain requirements which need financial muscle.
Motang said when he started working as a goalkeeper coach in 2008 there were several foreign goalkeepers in the elite league. He said at the time he always believed that there was a lot of local talent, which needed identification and nurturing to be able to compete at a high level. 'I believed that Botswana goalkeepers, with the right development, could reach great heights and today local goalkeepers are doing very well in our league,' he said.
He said goalkeeping is a crucial, specialized position that is very important in any team set up, that often tends to be neglected.
The academy is dedicated to training goalkeepers from the age of eight. Motang said goalkeepers must go through various stages of development that, include physical, psychological, tactical and technical aspects. 'Modern football dictates that goalkeepers don’t only tend goals and play a defensive role, but they also get involved in attacks, by rapidly returning the ball into play through long or short, accurate throws and kicks. These aspects all have to be developed at an early age, ' he said.