Makalakalane finds peace in honing future stars
Legend hopes his mission at Pitso's schools project will bear fruit
It pains Augustine Makalakalane to see local coaches fail to entrench themselves in Premier Soccer League clubs, who are notorious for going through numerous changes in a season.
Makalakalane, who was in the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winning team, has himself not found any luck with domestic teams, despite holding vast experience from his playing days – which included a long spell at FC Zurich in Switzerland – and holding qualifications which make him one of the Safa coaching instructors.
After leaving the Banyana Banyana coaching post in 2011, the retired midfielder found solace in junior football, and it is where his heart firmly is currently, as he heads coaching at the Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools (PMSS).
“My job is to ensure all coaches at the school follow the Pitso Mosimane philosophy,” the 59-year-old told Sowetan. “We coach according to uniformity, we teach the same thing. Because inevitably all coaches have their own ideas, but here, we must follow what coach Pitso believes in.”
According to Makalakalane, Mosimane’s philosophy includes a lot of ball possession and the ability to pass it around. “He [Mosimane] believes in players mastering the ball. The children have to be happy to touch the ball. We have to use the correct size ball for the correct age. The field size also must be appropriate.”
Makalakalane has more than 40 coaches of the PMSS reporting to him, and admits that getting them to get it right will take some time for a project still in its infancy. “My role is to oversee that sessions are conducted accordingly. I plan these training sessions along with the coaches. They then send me reports after the sessions for me to see if they followed instructions.
“It can’t be easy because we are dealing with small children – from six years old. At that age, you can’t really coach them, that’s why I tell the coaches, always play with the children, children want to be happy so you have to smile and be playful around them, while allowing them to touch the ball as many times as they can. Kids are not mini-adults, they want to have fun, so a coach cannot arrive at a training session with a burden from his home and start shouting at them, because they won’t enjoy. Thankfully, all our coaches have a Safa D licence so they know what we want.”
Makalakalane is thankful for the partnership between PMSS and Curro schools, which enables him to use the private schools' fields, which he says are way better than what you would ordinarily find at SA schools. “The resources are better, and they enable us to have the training sessions we want. Every child is able to have their ball,” he said of the Curro Meridian in Cosmo City, from where he conducts sessions.
After he left Banyana more than a decade ago, Makalakalane coached the University of North West football team and became a Safa coaching instructor, helping to conduct coaching courses. He didn’t entertain the thought of venturing into PSL coaching.
“The reality is as former players, we face some rejection in the local game. Teams don’t believe in us, and it is sad. This is why you see all this merry-go-round of coaches going back to the same teams three or more times. There aren’t too many young local coaches entering the market because they are not given a chance. But here at PMSS, we have young coaches who are helping shape our future stars. If ex-players were given a chance to identify talent from a young age, we would be far as a country. We are lucky to have Tlou Molekwane [ex-Kaizer Chiefs player] as one of our coaches at PMSS because we need young people who understand the game to help.”