Seabata Mahao
Kick4life Football Club (FC) is sending 18-year-old Kabelo Ngatane to the United States to study pharmacy through a Kick4Life Lesotho scholarship.
The scholarship, which will allow Ngatane to continue to develop his promising football skills, is part of Kick4Life Lesotho’s initiative to assist youth to accelerate their sporting careers.
The structure of the scholarship is designed to prepare students to thrive in the classroom, on the pitch, and in their wider lives in a new country.
Ngatane, who hails from Ha-Abia in Maseru joined Kick4Life in 2013 at the age of eight and has advanced through the Kick4Life Academy, accessing football coaching, academic tutoring, and life-skills sessions.
Kabelo has already received several national team call-ups, including to the under-17 team in 2020, where he captained the team, as well as to the under-20 team in 2021.
Apart from his apparent football talent, Ngatane is also an excellent academic.
Earlier this year he was listed among the LGCSE’s top 10 excelling students.
Speaking during a recent press conference, Ngatane expressed his gratitude to Kick4Life and thanked the Academy staff for turning his dream into reality and believing in him.
“I make a vow today, before you all that I will embody the values that Kick4Life, Thetsane High School, and my parents have taught me, and I will make all of you proud,” Ngatane said.
Ngatane’s guardian, ‘Mathabiso Ngatane, said they are proud of him, and advised him to keep working hard to realise his dreams and make his former school, Kick4Life, and the nation proud.
Kick4Life Academy’s coach, Mukete Mboh, said Ngatane has leadership qualities and demonstrates a positive character.
He encouraged him to uphold these traits to elevate him in life.
Another Kick4Life product, Morakane Mokhothu, who played for Kick4Life women’s team, left last weekend for the US under a similar Kick4Life scholarship.
The 18-year-old Mokhothu has enrolled at the Lenoir Rhyne University in North Carolina to study business management for a four-year term.
Kick4Life’s Country Director, Motlatsi Nkhahle, told Newsday Sports that Kick4Life is proud of Ngatane and Mokhothu.
He said in the history of Kick4Life, Ngatane is their first product to be watched in action by one of the potential universities from the US, which travelled to Lesotho to watch him play.
Nkhahle also expressed his delight for Morakane to have finally gone to pursue her dreams and appealed to other youngsters to emulate her hard work and dedication.
“The qualities needed to secure a scholarship of this nature are football skills, academic performance, and most importantly good character as it creates a vital balance between the football and academic components,†Nkhahle stated.
