13 Jul 2016

23-year-old Thato Mpoloka of Mogoditshane fencing club has completed a three month high level intensive coaching course in Budapest, Hungary and graduated as the first fencing woman master in Botswana. 

Master Mpoloka is one of the only two fencers who have been selected from Africa under the International Fencing Federation coaching programme.

Now a qualified coach specialising in Saber, Mpoloka holds the highest rank of fencing coach certificate. She is the second qualified fencing master in Botswana following Karabo Thobega who acquired his in Senegal late last year.

A former basketball player, Mpoloka defined herself as a sport enthusiast and explained that she had always loved challenges hence played most sport codes she came across. However she said it was only last year when she was introduced to fencing. Mpoloka said not so long after she took part in her very first competition.

“I hardly had one week to prepare for Gaborone open which we played against South African fencers, and managed to pull a surprise where I won a silver medal,” she said.

Furthermore Mpoloka explained that she started fencing playing epee, which according to her is a relaxed fencing weapon. However she said she chose to specialise on Saber which she described as a complex style of fencing.

She said during the course she went that way because she observed that most trainees were reluctant to choose Saber.

Mpoloka revealed that her course included theory side and the practicals on fencing. She said the main focus of the training was on developing beginners.

She explained that for her age she feels she had already lost valuable time to develop into a higher level of fencing as an individual, however she said she will turn her focus into developing children.

She said having acquired the highest level of coaching certificate in Saber, it will come in handy because since she specialised on the weapon it will be easy to impart the knowledge to her students. She also said this will address the issue of shortage of fencing coaches in Botswana.

Furthermore Mpoloka said she enjoyed her stay in  Budapest also that she learnt a lot about the sport from other players from other continents. She says it helped them diversify their skills. “Fencing is quite technical sport which needs a lot of attention and detail with ones level of thinking and body ability, and the coaching have taught me a lot of ropes about the sport,” she said.

Speaking to Botswana armature secretary general Thato Gleeson said Mpoloka’s training is a huge achievement for them. He stated that so far most players in Botswana avoid Saber because it is the most difficult weapon out of the three weapons used in the game. “Mpoloka is the most trained coach with a level 3 coaching specialising in Saber, the highest for a level for a weapon,” he explained

Gleeson further explained that there are only four athletes in Botswana who practice Saber and she is the only female.

He said their hope is that she will grow the Saber weapon category, finally expanding Saber crop of players. ENDS