ONE ON ONE WITH THABANG LEBESE

Thabang Stephen Lebese (21) came to the University of
Johannesburg (UJ) two years ago to study BA in Politics and little did he know that, he was going to be the captain for the UJ Football first team

UPBRINGING
The 21-year-old centre back born in Kalfontein Tembisa east of Johannesburg says he grew up in a football loving family, whereby everyone in the family played football, including his sister.

“I HAVE BEEN IN LOVE WITH FOOTBALL FROM TENDER AGE”

INSPIRATION
Since Lebese grew up in a family of football lovers, everyday conversations were about football, so that became a norm for him from an early age and a surprising fact is that a football player young as him draws inspiration from the legend Lucas Radebe who played for Kaizer Chiefs in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the South African National football team Bafana Bafana and Leeds United in the English Premier League (EPL) and his last game played was in 2005 when he finally retired.

The brilliant and excellent centre back says the legend has achieved so much throughout his football career (mostly overseas) and this aligns with his dreams as he would like to see himself playing in England in the English Premier League (EPL).

ROAD TO PLAYING FOR UJ
“I played for Johannesburg Secondary School in 2012 and won the under 14 McDonalds tournament and I was also playing for Orlando Pirates development at the time before it closed in 2013, then I went to join the Kaizer Chiefs development”.

Like many other athletes, Lebese did not allow the closing of the academy to stop him from going after his dream. He went to the Kaizer Chiefs development and then early 2019 when he was playing for Randburg FC they played a very heated match against UJ, as he describes it and then former UJ Football team coach Mandla Zwane scouted him and asked him to come play for UJ and then the rest was history.

LIFE AS THE UJ FOOTBALL TEAM CAPTAIN
Following a disappointing last season of Varsity Football when UJ got eliminated in round 7, Lebese was elected as the team captain for the 2020 season.

Being elected as the captain of the team did not come as a surprise to the young legend in the making as he was once a captain of the under 17 team at the age of 15.

“Life as the captain is tough as I am always expected to be at my best level, however, the coach has instilled a culture of brotherhood within the team and we work together as a team”.

Lebese mentions that Varsity Football consists of all kinds of players, from developed players, to players that have never played for academy or had any formal training but they played Ekasi (Township) with the exceptional traits of talent.

For him what makes an excellent Varsity Football player, is one that shows great hunger to win, puts in the work and willing to fight for his teammates and for the institution.

The playmaker says he does not think he is different from his teammates; however, he believes he has an upper hand being calm in difficult situations in the field of play and in general.

Seems like the player and his teammates are in good hands, in terms of guidance as Lebese speaks highly of his coach Karabo Mogudi,as he initiated psychological sessions with them as the team to help understand their roles better and how as teammates can support each other’s roles in the field of play and combine their efforts to win the game.

“THE EXPOSURE , FEEL AND TEMPO OF THE VARSITY FOOTBALL IS PHENOMENAL”.

Lebese highlight that, playing Varsity Football is a dream come true for many players and it is more of a blessing for him to play Varsity Football with one of the best football institutions of note and this is not something that he takes for granted.

According to him, Varsity Football feel is the same as the Top flier league with great supporters and very competitive players.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
The young and dedicated center back is a humanitarian at heart, and when asked what he plans to do with his degree that he is currently studying, he hinted that he is also planning to study Public management at post graduate level so he can have a direct impact in his community and focus on helping the less fortunate and he also believes that he can still help the less fortunate through his footballing career, because growing up he saw the struggle that the less fortunate were and still are going through.

MESSAGE TO THE FANS
The captain of the orange army says the team is anticipating a greater Varsity Football tournament this season and he would like to urge all UJ fans to rally behind the team, as they partake on a journey of champions.