LeFA unveils new coaching strategy
The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) on Wednesday announced Likuena coach-Thabo Senong as the head coach of all the male national teams.
Senong, who was appointed as the Likuena head coach in August last year, will work with Mpitsa Marai as the senior assistant coach while Bafokeng Mohapi and Motolo Makepe have also been roped in as the new assistant coaches.
The incoming duo’s responsibilities will also include working as head coaches for the national Under-17 and Under-20 teams under the supervision of the Likuena coach.
Breaking down the realignment, LeFA Secretary General, Mokhosi Mohapi, said the association had to do things differently to correct the mistakes of the past and bring cohesion between all the national team coaches.
“You will remember that at the end of last year, we released the head coaches of the U-17 and U-20 and their support staff because of the performance, which I would say, we were not proud of after the teams were eliminated in the group stage of the COSAFA Championships held in Malawi and Zambia respectively,” the LeFA secretary General stated.
“I want to thank them for their dedication in the two years that they worked with us coaching the teams. We wish them success in their journey as coaches and hope that they will use that experience to improve others. The door will always be open for them because football is a very funny spot.”
Mohapi explained that after parting ways with Mahlaha and Mafoso along with their support staff, the association went back to the drawing board and came-up with a new strategy.
“We had a lot of meetings with the Technical Director as the one, who recommends coaches for the national teams. At the end, we felt like we had two options, which were available to us. The first one was to continue with the old system of having a head coach for each of the teams, where things were done his way even if it was not working for the team and the association.
“The other option was to come up with a system, where we have one head coach for all the national teams and have everybody as his assistant coaches. This how we are going to work and it was discussed with ntate Senong as the head coach of Likuena. This effectively puts him in charge of all the national teams.
“This means that, all the coaches are going to work under him. We also had to base ourselves with the condition of his work permit, which clearly indicates that there should be people understudying him,” he said.
Mohapi stated that Senong worked under a similar system during his time with the South African Football Association (SAFA), where he was the assistant coach to Shakes Mashaba, while he was also the head coach of their national under-20 team.