12 Oct 2023

The youthful Eleven Angels head coach, Seemo ‘16’ Mpatane is a man on a mission. Winning the recent Botswana Football Association (BFA) Coach of the Year award has torched flames of the 34-year-old love for the game of football.

He won the coveted prize ahead of experienced coaches in the likes of Gaborone United’s Pontsho ‘Piro’ Moloi, Jwaneng Galaxy’s Morena Ramoreboli and Mandla Mpofu who had a stint with Molepolole-based outfit Masitaoka before joining Sua Flamingoes.

A sure class act by the talented coach whose side took position six in its maiden appearance in the country’s top-tier football league in the past season.

Last Saturday’s win makes the young coach exude confidence.

“Being nominated in the category of Coach of the Year sufficed and going all the way to win it was like an icing on a cake. I was happy even before attending the glamorous ceremony. Nobody thought I would walk away with the award at the start of the league,” he said Tuesday on the sideline of the Lekgamu-La-Bananyana training in Area W.

The fact that no coach had achieved such a feat in their first year plying top-flight football in the annuals of history of soccer in Botswana, he told BOPA made the accolade special.

To him and the boys, the ward is the recognition sums up the many years of much toiling, hard work and insurmountable challenges the team had endured during its 13 years of existence.

“I started this team in 2010 after completing my Form Five at Francistown Secondary School,” he said of what started as pass time but has now snow-balled into a formidable side, rose from the bottom rung of the BFA ladder to be a household craze among football fanatics and a slayer of the giants.

Looking back into time, ‘16’ as he is affectionately referred to by football fans recall being asked to train Form One football team by his then school teacher and head coach, Palmas Odisitse.

This opened the young lad eyes to the game, especially the coaching aspect of soccer and he started believing that he had what it takes to become a football administrator in the future.

Unlike many teams that bank on scouting for already established football stars to make formidable teams, Mpatane’s creed is development through and through; a thing he attributes to the team’s strength and cohesion.

The notion of having development sides also ensures feeder units for the first team even if some players get lost along the way due to a number of reasons.

“It has always been at the back of my mind that I will lose players to other teams and it is to this end that I have set up development side to sustain the team,” he said.

Besides the 30 registered players as per the BFA regulations, Eleven Angels boast of five categories of the development sides being; Under 11, 13, 15, 17, 20 totalling over 100 players.

This is despite the shoe string budget for the side which does not have sponsors and depend on the gate takings and the goodwill gesture by some good Samaritans who are fascinated by the inspiring story of the rise of the Eleven Angels from its humble beginnings.

“I am very hopeful that someone will come through and help us. I have told the boys to remain hopeful. As you can see they are a happy lot that train and play together week in week out. Our passion for the spot is the tapestry that binds us together,” he stated.

Polished stars among others; Gofaone Mabaya, Molaodi Tlhalefang, Fortune Thulare, Doctor David, Eric Ookame are some of the players that have gone through the midas touch of Mpatane.

Eleven Angels originally White Angels the brainchild of Mpatane is the name he gave the outfit because of his conviction that it is inspired by the divine.

Soccer fans, he said should brace themselves for an exciting display of soccer from the side. Ends