2024 GDL Build-up | Kaizer Chiefs u19 Head Coach David Mathebula
One of the toughest jobs in football is occupying the hot seat of a head coach, and it gets even more heated if a coach holds that position at one of the biggest clubs in the country.
Kaizer Chiefs’ u19 coach, David Mathebula, knows the hot seat all too well as he is entrusted with accelerating the talents of the players in the Soweto giant’s academy and preparing them for top-flight football in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Often, academy coaches don’t get the respect they deserve and that boils down to the understanding of the audience about what exactly those academy coaches do and what kinds of pressure they are faced with.
In an exclusive interview with SuperSport Schools Plus, Mathebula described the pressure he faces as an academy coach and the kinds of expectations that come with the hot seat that he currently sits on.
“Working for Kaizer Chiefs, honestly, is not an easy thing. This is a big brand but, as a coach, you are expected to handle the pressure because if you can’t handle it, it will go down to the players,” he said.
“In terms of how I handle it, I always train myself to stay calm during the matches. When the players see a very solid coach on the touchline, they will also be calm on the field of play.”
As the 2024 edition of the Gauteng Development League (GDL) draws closer – kick off is on 2 March – Mathebula and his fellow head coaches will have to produce results once again as the public’s demand for young, exciting talent and winning football increases inexorably.
Mathebula told SuperSport Schools that the expectations from the powers that be at the club and from the general public is part of the package of being an academy coach.
“It’s not easy as a coach because you are always expected to deliver,” he explained. “But a big part of the pressure comes from within, from us as coaches wanting to produce star players for the first team; the kind of player that will go up there and make an impact immediately. That’s what we focus on.
“Pressure is an everyday thing here. We have to deliver as coaches. But because I have played the game and some of the coaches have played the game, I think we understand how to handle the pressure and we don’t allow all of that to affect the performances of our players.
“It’s not easy because, at the end of the day, we will be judged on that in the near future – how many players have you produced, and where are they playing? So, if you can produce top players who go on to play for the first team and have a few playing regularly at a relatively young age, that would be a big achievement,” he concluded.
Last season’s academy crop included Khulumane Ndamane, a physically strong and composed centre-back, who also turned out for Kaizer Chiefs in the DStv Diski Challenge.
Mathebula’s new group of youngsters is set to start their season on Saturday, 17 February, in a GDL Top Eight clash against SuperSport United. Expectations remain, as always, sky-high for the AmaKhosi.
