sports

Oct. 24, 2021

STAFF REPORTER

4 min read

Overcoming gender stereotypes in football, Teboho Letseka

Overcoming gender stereotypes in football, Teboho Letseka

LeFA's Head of the Competitions Department and Club Licensing Manager, Teboho Letseka

Story highlights

    International travel helped sharpen her admin prowess
    Letseka’s biggest concern is shortage of local qualified female coaches, referees and administrators

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SINCE joining the local soccer governing body, Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) as the Maseru District Football Administrator in 2011, the 33-year old female sports manager, Teboho Letseka has not looked back and continues growing from strength to strength in the male dominated industry.

Her hard work soon started paying off and just two years down the line, she was promoted to the senior position of Competitions and Administration Officer.

More opportunities followed and today the single mother of one is the Head of the Competitions Department and Club Licensing Manager.

She is also responsible for the FIFA Connect Registration. Her other duties include assisting the A Division Management Committee (ADMACO) as well as the Player’s Status Committee as the Coordinator.

“My duties include coordination of ADMACO and Player Status affairs, giving assistance to the LeFA Secretary General on general operations of the association, registration of clubs, players and officials in the FIFA connect system under close supervision of SG. I also oversee the LeFA club licensing operations and being part of the association’s event management operation,” she highlights.

The holder of a Diploma in Office Administration and Management from the Lerotholi Polytechnic (Fokothi) obtained in 2009, has over the years proven to be a force to be reckoned with in football administration affairs.

The vastly experienced administrator also holds the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) Sports Administration Level 1, Level 2 and the LNOC Advanced Sports Administration certificates. She also holds the FIFA MA Sports Administration certificate.

Her job took her to a number of countries in Africa where she attended several trainings to sharpen her administrative prowess.

In 2015, she attended the FIFA Connect workshop held in Gaborone, Botswana and the CAF Club Licensing Workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa later that year.

The following year, she attended the CAF Club Licensing workshop in Kenya and a Club Licensing conference held in Egypt in 2018 before attending another CAF Club Licensing workshop in Uganda in 2019.

As LeFA Head of Competitions and Club Licensing Manager, she trained all local football clubs on the new players and officials online registration system called the FIFA Connect. All the Lesotho elite teams including the Women Super League teams are operating under the club licensing system under her supervision. Born on July 6, 1988, Teboho Letseka is the daughter of the late ’Mathabo and Sello Letseka of Lithabaneng, Teyateyaneng in Berea. She is the first born in a family of three girls.

 She did her primary education at Teyateyaneng LEC Primary where she completed in 2001 then she went to St Agnes High School where she obtained her Junior Certificate in 2004 and her Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) in 2006. 

Her journey in football began during her high school days at St Agnes, where she used to play as a defender. She continued playing in tertiary and after she graduated from Fokothi.

According to Letseka, there are a lot of opportunities in football, although she is worried about the shortage of qualified female coaches, referees and administrators.

“I wish to use this platform to appeal to all females, who are passionate about football to always look out for opportunities as LeFA keeps training people throughout the country in all departments of football. I believe with hard work, determination and knowledge in one’s chosen field, anything is possible. I’m grateful to LeFA for giving me the opportunity to grow as a female administrator and believing in my abilities. I have collected a lot of knowledge and skills throughout the years working in the football industry.

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 “For me, there are no worst moments in football, I call them challenges which I really like to face and overcome. Working in a male dominated environment has never been easy having to deal with men of different characters and backgrounds. But the trick is to accommodate all of them. Some challenges come through matters of the heart while others come in the form of intimidations.

“Having a difficult boss in LeFA Secretary General, Mr Mokhosi Mohapi is another challenge that I had to overcome. But today I thank him for building in me a strong-willed woman who knows how to stand her ground,” she says.

She looks up to Mohapi who took her under his wing when he realised her great potential.

“He gave me a chance to grow and become a better person and today football is my language,” she says.  

She adds: “I look up to the Vice-President of the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC), Moipone Mashale who is a prominent female administrator. She has shown that progress starts with awareness that females can be successful and accomplish great things like men in leadership roles and male dominated industries. I also admire ’Malitsietsi Zwakala, who is part of the LSRC secretariat. She has grown in leaps and bounds as a young female administrator working in this difficult industry.”

Letseka also enjoys travelling, watching soccer and spending time with friends and family during her leisure time. LeFA/Metro

 

 

 

 

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