Thero the think tank who never realised his dream

One of the most difficult assignments I ever had in my over two decades of journalistic practice was having to write an obituary of one of the greatest sporting personalities and think tanks this country has ever had, Thero Gaadingwe who was buried last Friday in Gaborone.

Thero was like a sibling to me. I met him in the mid 90s whilst I was part of the chosen few who were appointed to serve in the first youth football committee by the Ismail Bhamjee-led Botswana Football Association (BFA) administration.

The Committee was led by the BFA Technical Director the Ghanaian, Ben Koufie and our mandate was specifically to set up the youth football structure in the country.

The organised youth structure attracted sponsorship from Cadbury through one of their famous products the Chappies league. The league enabled Botswana to have a strong development side and later select a strong national Under 17 team that later qualified and become the first national squad ever to qualify for the CAF continental Under 17 finals in Bamako, Mali in 1995 after having knocked out favourites such as Malawi and Zambia.

The diminutive Thero was very young then and played for a development side called Arm City and later Nyangabgwe FC led by veteran coach Michael Spokes Gaborone - the current Deputy Paramount Chief of Batlokwa.

But his skills which were an attestation of the maxim ‘dynamites come in small packages’ -helped him find his way into the team. Sadly, he did not make the Mali trip due to academic reasons because his parents wanted him to focus on his studies.

The incomplete assignmentIn our last discussion in December, Thero opened up to me saying he believes that out football is not progressing much both administratively and technically. He said he wanted to be part of the executive of the BFA so that he could contribute with authority.

But as one would imagine this “think tank” thought that the best way to go about it was to assemble a strong team of his peers who played football at high level. He had in his mind the likes of Dipsy Selolwane, Masego Nchingane, and Phadza Butale etc.

His intention was not to contest for any position but to be the kingmaker and to have at least any two of them join the executive as additional members. Our meeting was hurried and so we agreed to meet and discuss the plan further come January 2016 during which he would also share with me his campaign strategy. Being someone who consulted many sporting authorities, I have learnt that he told the same to his mentor Matshidiso Saxton Kowa.

Saxton advised him (Thero) that the best way for them will be to go into the administration of football at regional level because this is where development starts, but sadly its structures are not well supported and lack qualified and relevant people to form the management.

But, little did he realise that the meeting will never be as God had other plans when he passed on in Kgomokasitwa village due to what is believed to be a cardiovascular arrest.

The golden touchKowa describes Thero as one of the boys who died without having fulfilled his dream and hope. He said he was gifted in whatever he did- be it in sporting career or academics, and whatever he touched turned into gold.

Kowa said Thero had wanted to turn a professional footballer. “He came to me one day after passing his Cambridge exams and told me he wanted to go to Europe but that his parents want him to continue with studies. He asked me to go and convince them that he could become a professional player and at the same time study”, Kowa remembers.

Kowa did that and Thero’s parents acceded to the request. This led to Thero joining the belite division side, Gaborone United, but as fate would have it, a knee injury almost ended his career. He quit football and went to see a specialist in South Africa only to resurface in 2004 at Unioa Flamingo Desporotos.

Again, he injured his knee while chasing after the ball in a preparation game against then Jwaneng Comets. The injury led to Thero quitting and becoming an assistant coach, as he loved training youngsters.

The nicknamesThero had two nicknames ‘Relax’ and ‘Dube’ all of which resembled his character, even his parents could vouch for that! He earned the name Relax because whenever he was playing football, once in possession, Thero would seize the moment to display his skills and would hardly let the ball off his feet.

He would make solo efforts and outclass all his opponents. Each time when his teammates or supporters tried to ask why he took long to release the ball, his response was the refrain, “relax”. This is the name that he later used on his investment wing.

His peers named him “Dube’ after a Prisons XI player, the late Dikgang Dube Olaetse - one of the rare breed of players who were well built around a solid frame. That, coupled with a never say die approach to the game made him to believe he was a foreigner while, he was a Motswana. Olaetse had a powerful left foot that used to unleash thunderbolt strikes that left goalkeepers sprawled on the turf.

This is exactly what Thero did on the field of play at a tender age.

May his soul rest in peace.