By Godfrey Mowaneng
The sky is the limit for former sports journalist Alex Basimanebotlhe Malete .
He has crafted his career from coaching women football to second assistant coach in the BTC premiership.
Malete resumed his position at Sharps Shooting Stars in the elite league two weeks ago after parting ways with BTC premiership giants Gaborone United where he was the club’s fitness trainer. The former Duma FM and Echo Newspaper sports presenter started making strides in the coaching arena in 2012.
The 28 ÔÇôyear-old boasts a CAF B licence awaiting assessment by CAF instructors this April. Speaking to The Telegraph this week, the young coach revealed that his dream is to make it in the CAF Champions league some time in his coaching career. He is satisfied with the progress he has achieved over the past few years.
‘’To be honest I have lived football for the better part of my life and have made critic al sacrifices. My dream is to reach the highest level of coaching in the continent. I am aware that it is not going to be an easy route but prepared for the hurdles. I had to sacrifices some classes during my tertiary studies to make time for the game as I created a balance for the books and the game also as a sports reporter. It is not easy but I will strive to make it to the top as I keep learning from those that surround me. My dream is to make it to the CAF Champions league soon as a coach,” Malete told The Telegraph.
Since 2012, Malete has completed the premier skills courses from the Botswana Football Association (BFA) in conjunction with the British Council, the FIFA fitness course in 2015, the Diploma CAF C licence in 2016 and CAF B licence in 2018 while in 2019 attended the Coaching Instructor workshop.
‘’Through my coaching courses I have been a Head coach in the women’s league mentoring the likes of UB Kicks and Double Action. In 2016, while at Double Action, we won the regional tournament in Lesotho playing against Swaziland and Lesotho clubs. I then decided that I needed a different environment for the sake of growth and applied for positions in the premier league clubs. Fortunately, Gaborone United gave me an opportunity as their trainer. I have learnt a lot during my stay at the Gaborone giants and the experience I continue gaining at Sharps Shooting Stars as a coach is awesome,” said Malete.
The coach has been admitted to commence further training at the Liverpool John Moores University and Cardiff Metropolitan to study Masters of Sports Science in sports coaching particularly football. ‘’It is true that I have been admitted to study football further but the challenge now is sponsorship as I have tried my best with different organisations to assist me but nothing is promising yet,” Malete told The Telegraph.
