In the latest edition of our feature, kit manager, KickOff catches up with Marumo Gallants kit man Lishy Rudzani Tshinavhe.
Who am I...
"Lishy Rudzani Tshinavhe. A Kit Manager at Marumo Gallants FC. I come from Tshakuma, under king Madzhivhandila. He is my grandfather. I was a coach when I started out. Mr Lawrence Mulaudzi recruited me when he started his team Tshakuma Tsha Madzhivhandila FC. I was an assistant coach. When the coach was fired Sello Chokoe took over. After one season of assisting Chokoe I was told he was no longer happy with me as his assistant. I was then told to assist the kit manager. Then Mr Mulaudzi bought Bidvest Wits. I continued working there as a kit manager. Then Mr Abram Sello bought the status. I went back to Tshakuma to work as a kit manager when Mulaudzi bought another status in the NFD. After one season I received a call from Rufus Matsena of Marumo Gallants asking me to come and assist as kit manager again. I've been here ever since."
My club...
"I'm with Marumo Gallants now."
Coaches I've worked with...
"Dylan Kerr, I worked with him in my first season with Gallants when I came here, now I'm working with him again. I've worked with Romain Folz who is now at AmaZulu. I've also worked with Dan 'Dance' Malesela.
"Malesela is good because when he needs something he doesn't jika-jika he tells you straight, whereas other coaches don't inform you in advance as a kit manager what their training schedule looks like. They just tell you 'Tomorrow we going to do this', which is not good for a kit manager.
"Dylan Kerr is also a good coach, and I'm learning a lot from him. The way he speaks the way he shouts...yeah, I like those things a lot."
The hardest working player...
"Thabo Nonyane our captain. He is a leader, he can organise players, he is a good player."
Most talented player I've watched...
"Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo. I used to guide him and he is a good listener. That's why he is where he is now. I'm proud of him. I wish he gets selected for the national team."
Talents that disappeared...
"Thembisani Nevhulamba. He played at TTM he played at Black Leopards and at Bloemfontein Celtic. I thought he would go far. I've even lost contact with him, he is in Venda and I'm in Polokwane. He is no longer playing professionally. I think his attitude let him down. That's why when you are a player you must be a good pretender. Don't show your coach your true colours. You must listen to your coach and do what he wants."
What my day looks like...
"Sometimes it depends on what time are we training. When we train at 10 am, I must be there from 8:30 to 9:00. Kit managers don't really knock off. You must be on stand-by for 24 hours. What I like about this job is that I'm learning a lot about the players, and how to coach players. I want to go back to coaching one day. That's where my passion really is."
Bizarre player requests...
"They will sometimes ask you to bring them a Red Bull, and sometimes they will ask for peanuts."