SOME people might think that holding an ITF Level 1 coaching certificate alone is not enough for one to be recognised as an accomplished tennis coach. But a determined Retšelisitsoe Motlojoa has proven that what really matters is skill, coupled with knowledge of the game.

Although he holds that single coaching certificate, he has however, over the years groomed and nurtured some of the best players to come out of Lesotho.

Today, some of those players are actually great coaches who have carved names for themselves in the sport internationally.

Motlojoa developed the likes of Khetla Khetla, Neo Makhakhe, Mokhou Letsie, Mokotso Tšooana, Thabiso Rabasotho, Lebelo Mosehle, Paseka Motsamai, Bokang Chabalala, Mahao Matete, his own sons Kukutla and Nyathi, along with Bishop Mosebi and Mojalefa Mothibe.

In his own words, he “unlearned the old ways and relearned new ways of playing lawn tennis as a sport” during the introduction of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in Lesotho.

In 2003 he was a prominent member of the Ladybrand Tennis Club – in the Free State League.

He also successfully arranged for the Maseru Tennis Club to play in the same league.

He competed in the 2004 Free State Veterans Tournament in Bethlehem and won in the singles, before he entered the Interprovincial Tournament in Potchefstroom.

Alongside his mixed doubles partner, Petra Kruger from Western Cape, Motlojoa lost at the finals of the 2005 Free State Veterans Tournament and walked away with a silver medal.

He lost to Jacob Klaasen in the finals of veterans’ category at the 1994 Lesotho Open Tennis Tournament and won a silver medal.

Klaasen is Raven Klaasen’s father who is the highest ranked South Africa men's doubles professional tennis player.

Born on January 21, 1955, in Hlotse Leribe, Retšelisitsoe Motlojoa is the son of the late Paleho and ’Mamatete Motlojoa of Ha Ramokhele in Mafeteng.

He is the fifth child in the family of eight - four girls and four boys.

He was born when his family was staying in Hlotse where his father worked for the Ministry of Health.

The family later moved to Berea before returning to their home district Mafeteng, through work engagements.

Motlojoa did his primary education at Mohale’s Hoek LEC Lower Primary School and Control Higher Primary School where he completed in 1967.

He went to Lesotho High School in 1968 where he obtained his Junior Certificate (JC) in 1970 and Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) in 1972.

He began playing lawn tennis in high school.

“We used smaller wooden ratchets in those days,” he recalls.

In 1974, Motlojoa enrolled at the Lerotholi Polytechnic (Fokothi) and obtained a Diploma in Civil Engineering in 1977. He went to Canada to further his studies for a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. But he dropped out in his second year of study.

He holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Management obtained in 1999 from the Napier University in Glasgow, Scotland in 1999. In 2001, Motlojoa graduated from the De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom with a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

He obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Information Management from the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), Johannesburg, South Africa in 2003.

After he left school, he worked at the Ministry of Public Works as a Senior Technical Officer responsible for training and later as Training Manager between 1981 and 1988.

Thereafter, he got involved in a project that helped localise and replace expatriate experts with Basotho professionals through education, together with on the job training.

Motlojoa has also worked for the Binnie Shand Engineering Consultancy as a Draughting Technician.

From June 1988 until March 2006, he worked for the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) as a Training Coordinator, Engineering Administrator, Benefits and Compensation Officer, as well as Transformation & Recruitment Officer.

During his term at the LHDA Human Resource Branch, he was the head of the branch, responsible for staff development from 1988 - 2001.

Among other things, he was responsible for planning, costing, and implementation of the M6.7 million Construction Skills Training Project (CSTP), to facilitate the employment of affected rural people in the major Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), under Phase 1A of the Project.

From March until August 2006, Motlojoa worked as an Organisational Development Consultant for Lesotho Funeral Services.

In August that year, he joined the Population Services International- Lesotho (PSI) as a Human Resources Specialist.

In December 2006, he moved to the Senqu Engineering Environment & Development Consultants (SEED Consult) to work as the Chief Executive Officer and Board Secretary.

As a SEEDCo member, he coordinated Basotho’s participation in the Phase II Feasibility Study.

He also worked at the SM Consulting Engineers as the Managing Director and Secretary of the Board of Directors from June 2011 until December 2012.

From 2014 to date, Motlojoa has been working as Board Secretary and Operations Facilitator for the Consortium of Lesotho Contractors (CLC).

He became the Secretary of Task Team on the establishment of Contractors Association of Lesotho (CAL) in November 2019 to date.

Between 2008 and 2016, he was the Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) board member and chaired the Finance and Human Resource Committee before being elected as member of the Audit Committee.

He joined the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) Board of Directors in 2014 as a member of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, and still holds the position to date.

He also worked as a Mathematics lecturer at the Lerotholi Polytechnic between 1981 and 1988. He later returned to the same institution and lectured diploma graduates in preparation for studies at degree level.

His coaching career has been both exciting and challenging. He formed the Limamarela tennis club and coached it from 2008-2018.