Coaching can be a very demanding and daunting task in football; and it has proven to be not for the faint hearted.
Coaches are normally the ones vilified when the team poses poor results but when the team does wonders and wins silverware, all the accolades go to the players.
In coaching, it is not everyone who succeeds regardless of the resources at their disposal. Other coaches will fare badly with ample resources and unparalleled support from the team management.
Others, on the other hand, would do well with limited resources coupled with sour relationship from the top. Nowadays there is emphasis in the qualifications of coaches to upgrade their knowledge and technical knowhow of the game.
Other coaches have gone to the extent of being highly qualified on paper but do not produce results once they assume the duties of being a head coach. Other coaches are less qualified but still perform wonders once they are in charge.
In Botswana, there are some highly qualified coaches who deputise their foreign counterparts who are less qualified than they are.
Coach and former Technical Director of the Botswana Football Association, Losika Kealtholetswe, told Telegraph Sports that coaching is a talent given to someone and as such other things are just complementary.
“Papers mainly help you to be systematic and refine that talent you have. If one has that coaching talent nothing can really get in their way and they can succeed under difficult circumstances,” he said.
Keatlholetswe also added that the personality of a coach is vital to achieving the results. He added that most successful coaches are very disciplined.
The former BDF XI coach also emphasizes that support from the management is also key for the coach to succeed. He said once the management is not there for the coach, the results might not come. One local coach, who preferred anonymity, concurred with Keatlholetswe, saying coaching is a talent. He added that there are many talented local coaches in Botswana who do not get the recognition they deserve.
He said this automatically gives foreign coaches an advantage.
“It has proven that many local coaches are talented and once given a chance they do wonders. Look at David Bright who is coaching in South Africa and national team coach, Stanley Tshosane.
Tshosane made history by guiding Botswana to their maiden appearance at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Maybe if all top teams in this country are coached by Batswana they will also do well in Africa competitions,” he said.
