Sasol Thistle Grove u/19 Coach, Tshepo Zondo is known to be one of the best emerging local coaches.
Before he became a coach, Zondo played for the same team and his position was center back.
In 2012 he embarked on a coaching journey and started with u/15.
“The u/15 players used to request me to coach them and I coached them first season, the following season we ended up in position 2,” said Zondo.
Last year Zondo coached u/19 and his team lost at the play-offs in Bethal.
When asked about the challenges most coaches are faced with, he said, “Most coaches struggle to let go the old players and as such they continue to use same players, without giving young ones a chance to prove themselves.”
He further mentioned that the reason for most coaches to keep on recycling players is because they are more focused on getting points.
Another challenge raised was age cheating and favoritism of certain players by coaches.
“Favoritism demoralize other players,” added Zondo who also highlighted the issue of not having a women’s team in
Kinross.
According to him, he did try and scout women, but only got three.
Zondo further invited women who would like to be part of his team, to avail themselves during training sessions, every Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“If the training time is a problem for them, I am willing to create time that will suit them,”Zondo continued.
He also took time to praise LFA (Local Football Association) for assisting emerging teams.
“Football helps young people to stay focused and not spend more time roaming the streets,” said Zondo.
He further mentioned that at Kinross they were fortunate to be sponsored by Sasol.
Zondo responded to the question as to whether LFA offers them training as coaches and he admitted that LFA is
doing all they can to ensure that local coaches gets developed.
Recently he was offered the opportunity to be the assistant coach for the Sasol Thistle Grove Senior team which is campaigning at the SAB League.