Local squash players now national coach’s dream

South African level 2 squash coach, Emmanuel Musefwe who has been training some of the big names in the sport, recently moved to Polokwane with the goal of establishing a junior programme and raising the game to its full potential in the City of Stars as well as Limpopo.
Hailing from Zambia, Musefwe relocated to Gauteng where he had greater opportunities to embark on as professional squash player and coach after finishing matric in 2003. He was by then already a big name in the sport having participated in several junior tournaments in South Africa.
His coaching experience includes the University of Pretoria, Menlo Park High School and Pretoria Old Boys Club from 2005 to 2014. Players such as Callan Hall, SA2 player who represented the country in Poland two years ago and Thoboki Moholo, current SA1 player who relocated to America recently, were trained by Musefwe.
“My wife Diana Mwaniki is a quantity surveyor and joined a mining group in Musina in November last year. Travelling between my family and my coaching career in Gauteng became hectic and I decided to join the squash family in Limpopo earlier this year. Reaching my dream in Limpopo will be a huge challenge as the sport is not as demanding as in Gauteng. But this motivates me to bring this game alive again in Limpopo starting on junior level,” Mesefwe said.
He said squash is mostly active among senior players in Limpopo and with his passion in coaching youngsters he is eager to start marketing his service among learners as soon as school reopen.
In his career Musefwe participated in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia Open and is holding the number one position at the Pretoria Old Boys Club for the past seven years. He also represented Zambia in various national tournaments on junior and senior level.
“A good squash player has character. A performing player understands his ability and capability under stressful circumstances. Fitness and practice is vital components to one’s success,” he said, adding that squash is a technical game which requires professional coaching and determination from the player.
Musefwe attended the Australian World Coaching Course in 2015 and plans on attending again in September if finances allow. He has been coaching professionally for 17 years and indicated that professional level three coach Liz Mackenzie has been his inspiration and backbone throughout his career.
Musefwe specialises in fitness, high performance level and social sessions for amateur and professional players.

Story and photo: RC Myburgh
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