FIFA to drill local goalkeepers and coaches

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Thursday May 23, 2013 00:00

BFA said in a statement yesterday that 30 participants will attend the course and they are expected to assemble at Lekidi tomorrow for orientation and equipment distribution. The course is the first of its kind in Botswana conducted by the world football government body, FIFA. Renowned FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF) instructor Alejandro Alex Heredia will conduct the course. The only goalkeeper-coaching course ever conducted in the country was organised by the BFA and run by a German coach.Heredia is the head of coaching at the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) and has previously conducted goalkeeping courses and seminars in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Seychelles as well as in Central and South America.

The Argentinean is also the goalkeeper coach at Platinum Stars in the ABSA Premier League where current Zebras first choice goalkeeper Kabelo Dambe plies his trade. Among the participants who will be expected to attend the course include former Zebras' goalkeepers Thabo Motang, Kagiso Tshelametsi, Modiri Marumo and Dambe. Other former goalkeepers expected to attend are Joel Chonga, Anthony Matengu, Joseph Maposa, Bishop Nakedi, Pogiso Wrist Mmusi and Mokwadi Charles.Speaking to Mmegi Sport yesterday, Zebras goalkeeper coach Motang said the course was long overdue. He said goalkeeping is a very vital department in football and has been neglected for a long time in Botswana.

'This course is long overdue, goalkeepers form a core part of the game and in most cases determine the match result,' said the former Township Rollers' keeper. He said the course would be an eye opener for most of the guys who are dealing with goalkeepers on a daily basis and for goalkeepers themselves. Motang said despite the development of goalkeepers having been left in the shadows for a long time, the country still managed to produce some of the best goalkeepers in the region, whom some of them even went to play in professional leagues. Tshelametsi once had a short stint at Caledonia AIA in Trinidad and Tobago in mid-2000. He was followed by Marumo who played two seasons in Egypt for Haras El Hodood before leaving for South Africa's Polokwane City (formerly Bay United) in 2010. The team just recently gained promotion to the premier league.

Dambe is currently the country's shining goalkeeping prospect at Stars who finished second in the league. Motang said if much effort had been put in the development of goalkeepers, some of them would have been among the world's best. He said locally goalkeepers' contribution to the teams' performance is not even recognised, as the premier league does not even have a specific award for them.