FC’S KAMOHELO MOHOJE

Heita, Kamo. You are making your debut on the Soccer Laduma pages this week, and what better way than to entertain our readers through those funny stories from the training ground, change room, camp, etc. Let’s make it a good one. Thanks for the opportunity, my brother. I’ve got a few stories to share.

Sounds good. You were previously on the books of Bloemfontein Celtic, but are now at Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila, having come through the famed Harmony Sports Academy… Yes, that’s right. There is something that I remember from the time I spent at Harmony Sports Academy. We were coached by Pitso Mokoena and Hector Mokgadi. I was playing alongside guys like Sipho Mbule when I was there. We had different cultures there and our coaches always wanted the best for us, on and off the field. We learnt so much. But obviously we had some funny moments during our time there. You know as young guys, you do naughty things and sometimes our coaches would find out about the things we did. So, they had this one punishment they would give to us.

Okay, what was the punishment?

They would take us all to the salon and have us cut all of our hair off. Just imagine, we all had to cut chiskop. They would cut our hair on Sunday and then we would have to go to school on a Monday. Everyone from school knew that we played for the academy, so when we got in at the gate, they would see us all. Imagine all of us walking in ka di (with) chiskop. The entire school would laugh at us, ha, ha, ha.

Seems you were all in “Harmony” when it came to your respective hairstyles, on such occasions…

Sometimes we would not even want to go to school because we knew that they would laugh at us, ha, ha, ha. It was embarrassing because we would all just walk in like that. But it was a great experience to be at Harmony because of the many things we learnt.

Eish man, we can only imagine the sight of your shiny heads, in all their shapes and sizes, ha, ha, ha. So, what are some of the things that you guys would do to earn yourselves free haircuts?

5 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT MOHOJE

• The 22-year-old star describes himself as a confident person.

• In addition, he says he is a “very funny” character – indeed.

• The midfielder is an altruistic person.

• He is a God-fearing person.

• The ex-Bloemfontein Celtic lad counts “dedication” amongst his biggest attributes.

At times, the teachers at school would complain about us not doing schoolwork or maybe if one of us was always on the phone in class. So, it was for little things like that. Then the coaches at the academy would hear about it from them (teacher) and we would get punished, ha, ha, ha.

And we suppose that’s when the coaches were reminded you naughty lot were due for your next barbershop visit. So, does this mean even during winter, you were not spared the torture? We are told Free State winter can be unkind…

Ha, ha, ha. My brother, it was winter by then, so you can imagine how cold it was on our heads. It actually just reminded me of this one

Friday when we were at the academy. It was in the evening, and we were called outside. I think it was around 22h00, if I remember well. They told us to get into the swimming pool and then, after that, we were told to stand in the middle of the field. Just think of the wind that would hit you from all angles. It was so cold, my brother. Then on Sunday, they would take us to the salon and cut us chiskop, ha, ha, ha… and then on Monday, we would go to school.

Kamo, the coaches must have been frustrated with you guys for whatever you used to get up to, and we also think in a way, you must have been frustrated with them for putting you through all of that. Go on!

Yho, it felt like it was -15 degrees! But when we got out of the water and went to the middle of the field, it felt like it was -32 degrees, ha, ha, ha.

Damn. That now gives us a clear idea of how cold it must have been for you all out there.

Ha, ha, ha. Yes, it was just so cold. Sometimes I look back at those moments, especially when I go into the gallery on my phone and I get to see all the pictures from the time I spent at Harmony.

What other punishments would you guys have to endure?

Sometimes we would just have to do roadwork. But the funniest one was definitely the one of us having to cut our hair all off. That is the one I will never forget, my brother, ha, ha, ha.

Hair-raising stuff!

When I was at Celtic, there was coach Abram Nteo and coach Ditheko Mototo. Both of them had great personalities. Coach Mototo was a character. I remember one time we were playing our first game (in the Diski Challenge side) and they had to recruit players. They only needed U21 players for the Diski Challenge, and I was part of the team. We were playing our first game against (Mamelodi) Sundowns. Coach Mototo would sometimes make jokes. He would come to you and say, “Hey boy, o tlo ba mo (you are going to be on) TV.” Being on TV is one of the biggest things and he would make it funny, but at the same time, it was motivation.

Indeed. Thanks a lot for your time, Kamo. Some good fun we’ve had. And we see you have some hair on your head these days, perhaps a clear sign that you’ll never be caught dead inside a salon again! Ha, ha, ha. Thanks for the opportunity.