Coaches I’ve worked with: These are rare individuals

Let me tell you about Jacob “Terror” Sephooa, who was both a development and senior coach at Kaizer Chiefs. What a humble and knowledgeable soul. A very quiet person who is one of those who never shouts or screams to send a message across. He was always soft but firm because, as much as he’s not one to scream, he didn’t let people get away with a lot. The man produced a lot of players for the team and, although he went on to work for other teams, I will only focus on him at the Chiefs development and senior team, for obvious reasons. I never thought I would get a chance to be coached by him at both junior and senior levels at the club. There are a number of players he produced and his eye for talent and ability to develop youngsters is unbelievable. The man knows his story and is always dedicated

to the task at hand. When he was given a chance to coach in the first team, we had a lot of youngsters and how he managed to mix the youth with experience, as well as new faces in the team, was something to marvel at. He would never throw anyone into the deep end but create an atmosphere where he gradually introduced youngsters and new players into the team. This is a very tricky thing to do as a coach because people don’t care about what you are trying to do, they look at the results. Your job is not to explain yourself but to bring results. I learned so much from his coaching philosophy and being a father-figure. These are coaches that emerged from townships – he comes from Pimville, Soweto, and he’s well-versed when it comes to the lifestyle and upbringing, which goes a long way in understanding the players. He’s one of those who always remind me of Bro Sam Motaung, who wasn’t a coach but a father-figure to most of us. Just like Bro Sam, Bro Terror would use his car to transport players and make sure that we had everything we needed. These are rare individ

uals who are so selfless. Even in the senior team, Bro Terror would cushion certain players when the pressure was getting to them.