Young and ready - Youngest football coach in Varsity Football

Pogiso P Mokwena
Jul 13, 2020
5 min read

Karabo Malesela Pascal Masehela, born 3rd January 1990 in Mafikeng, currently holds a Diploma in Sports Science from North West University. Like most boys in the townships, he also found himself following the culture of street footballI and it all began at the age of 6. He says, “my football journey kicked off when I first started playing for a local team named Western Tigers in Mafikeng until I was 12 years old. At the age of 13, I was scouted by Supersport United/Feyenoord Academy that was under the flagship of Supersport united FC which played its trade in the PSL. I had to leave for Johannesburg and start my career as a youngster.” Karabo played for various teams before he became an actual coach, he played for Supersport United FC, Cape Town FC, University of Pretoria, Thanda Royal Zulu, North West University Soccer Institute and served a brief stint in Europe. The last game he played was against Polokwane City Rovers in the ABC MOTSEPE LEAGUE which was the second last game before the season of 2017/18 finished and that's where he decided to close off the chapter of him being a player to focus more on his coaching career. Masehela tells us about his transition from being a player to coach: "I was inspired by one coach - Amos Xabanisa - who coached me when I was doing my final year at NWU. I really thought I'd get back into playing pro again, but then decided to stick to being a coach. Fortunately, one of the biggest contributions he made in my life was to ensure that my coaching skills are sharpened where he appointed me as a player coach and I, then, never looked back. I have always wanted to give back to the football fraternity and become a contributor, in terms of nurturing young talent, shape and sharpen their skills and help them play in big professional leagues" he said. He takes us to his first game as a team coach, and what was on his mind at the time, his response was, “we were playing against our local rivals, Marauding Classics. The pressure was there, but I knew on how to handle it because I usually don’t put myself under a lot of pressure especially during match days; instead, I always condition my mind to the fact that it is always important to approach a game being thoroughly prepared.” In every game when a team is faced with a loss, the technical team and players are affected differently. When asked of his first loss and what he took from it, he replied and referred to loss as an uncomfortable feeling to any athlete and coach. To add he went on to say, "football is a sport where anything can happen unexpectedly and highly unpredictable. One has to at least put in all the effort needed to earn victory but if it doesn’t go your way on that day, I guess you just have to accept and move on. Learn from the mistakes we committed on that particular day is the way forward. One lesson that I have have passed on to my players is that - when it is not our day, we just have to learn from the mistakes and continue to having that winning mentality and continue to work hard and smart." Karabo has been noted as the youngest coach in the Varsity football industry and professionally, he was asked how he deals with the stigma of the fact that being young is linked to 'Lack of experience' and that comes with alot of pressure especially in his industry. His response was, "I don't feel pressured at all, I guess when one does not have experience, he or she has to be thrown into the deep end. Not that I don’t have experience, yes on the coaching side it might seem so, but I am in the business of working on myself just to get to the top and reap the rewards of what I have worked hard for. As a player, I have vast experience, so in football one learns every day which means that whether one is a player or coach - experience shall be accumulated in that process". He continued to say, “I have always believed in myself, so when it comes to preparation, I am cool and should say I have assembled a very good technical team. We are good at what we do especially when we prepare." Masehela said that the biggest challenge he has faced thus far - that tested his capacity as a coach - was playing in his first major tournament, Varsity Football Tournament in 2019. He knew that only proper planning and preparations were going to get him and his team a win that they need, and them being crowned as 2019 Varsity Football champions was confirmation that their planning and preparation were perfect. Since Karabo joined NWU Soccer Institute, the team has been making history. They first won the Varsity Football Tournament for the first time, following that they qualified for the Nedbank last 32, where they played against a PSL team Black Leopard. He was asked what all that meant for him as an individual and what does he think could have been done better in terms of preparation for the Nedbank last 32 that could have placed his team at an advantage of winning to qualify for the last 16, his response was, "it truly meant a lot to me, everything was just so surreal and one thing that was important, and that really touched me, was the fact that it was for the first time NWU won its major title after 9 years of drought. With Nedbank last 32, a lot happened when we were preparing for that game. Remember we encountered a strike and it really affected my preparations, there was also a time where we had to stop training to keep my players safe. I again had to relocate to a discreet location to prepare my boys for a week and a half of which it was not enough. I had already told the boys that, all we just need to do is to go out there and have fun at the same time experience our first encounter playing a team at the highest level." He has a plan on growing in this football industry and going forward he wants to see himself coaching at the highest level in football. This will only mean after accumulating all the licences to put him in a state of where he is able to coach big clubs and compete as a coach. In closing, Masehela was asked to complete this sentence, ‘I may be young but'... I am an inspiring, fierce and unstoppable coach who is hungry for success and at the same time paying my dues by being involved in growing and contributing in South African Football.