Coach Thabo wants to help youth punch above their weight

“The experience was nerve-racking but very satisfying,” said Waterfall City resident Thabo Magano, popularly known as Coach T.

Magano (34) was describing his experience after being invited to give a talk as one of the speakers at TEDx, held at the University of Pretoria on October 1.

TEDx is a university event founded in 2018 by students for students, aimed at providing a platform for creative and innovative minds to share their ideas worth spreading.

He said this was a huge milestone for him and many other people in his life.

“With every achievement, I am able to tick-off is another example to the people connected to me that their dreams are valid and possible too.

“I remember I sat back and teared up, as I used to dream about such moments while speaking to an empty grass field pretending it was a huge stage filled with people. So to finally see the dreams of that 18-year-old boy come to life was absolutely breathtaking.”
Most of the people using his services are high school learners and varsity students aged between 21 and 35 years.

Before Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Magano was a youth coach helping high school and university students not only envision their best lives but take the necessary steps to make their dreams come true. Coach T moved all coaching sessions online and started hosting group sessions on Saturday mornings called Elite Coaching Calls. He said these sessions were crucial as they provided the community with much-needed motivation when most people felt isolated.

“Our online sessions are very interactive. We have group coaching sessions on Zoom for two hours where we [attendees] freely engage on different topics that we cover. Then every Tuesday and Thursday morning we have reflective question-and-answer sessions where there’s an opportunity to ask and share reflections on what was covered on Saturday.”

Despite Covid-19 regulations being eased, Magano still holds online sessions for those who prefer online and does face-to-face talks with those who want to do it in person.

Apart from being a motivational speaker and life coach, Magano is a quality assurance practitioner at the University of South Africa, popularly known as Unisa, facilitate leadership and soft skill workshops and a content creator.

Asked what kind of challenges he comes across in his line of work, he said vicarious trauma was the biggest problem because he deals with a lot of people’s problems and traumas.

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