01 Nov 2016

Breaking into a new setting and maintaining success can be a daunting task that requires a concerted effort.

Desert Nxau, a fallen Tsabong football club that used to rip apart home and visiting opponents in the 1990s, can attest to the wisdom suggested above.

With some of their greatest players in Cornelius Jansen, Jacky Tumaeletse, Steve Coetzee, Lentikile ‘Nyathi’ Tsietso, and Chippa Kaboyangaka , the team dominated local football for several seasons until they entered the national First Division league.

Former player and veteran administrator, Kgomotso ‘Jerry’ Gotlop said in an interview that he still remembers the year Desert Nxau obtained promotion to the second highest football league in the land.

The journey was not a walk in the park for the team as they had to beat fatigue from playing many games within a short space of time at different venues, said Gotlop.

“In our first game, we played with Motlakase Power Dynamos in Palapye in the morning and then we had to play Tafa FC in Mahalapye in the afternoon. Our next fixture was Kanye Swallows in Kanye and lastly FC Satmos in Jwaneng. We won all the four games to gain promotion to the First Division league.”

Hard work and passion for the game that was inherent in the crop of players of that time played a crucial role in ensuring the team reached the top.

Gotlop, who was forced by injuries to relinquish playing football, said the players of the golden generation needed no motivation to execute their business in the field of play.

He maintained that sportsmanship spirit was high back then and that players respected camping before games and honoured training sessions.

The club’s former spokesperson, Kabo Kadimo concurred with Gotlop on the character of the players Desert Nxau had during the heydays.  

The lack of attractive salary packages did not deter the team to terrorise the likes of Mogoditshane Fighters and Wonder Sporting despite the law enforcement teams being the stronger sides at that time.

He noted that Nxau, as the team is affectionately known to its die hard backers, tapped on overwhelming support during the home fixtures.

Kadimo believes that Nxau was a no match for any team because the management structure was filled with elderly wisdom and fan base that comprised the young and the old.

Though local businessmen, Tshipietsile Mothelesi, the late Tiki ‘Teenage’ Matswiri, Ireng Matswiri, and Andries Burge, dug deeper inside their pockets to meet the welfare needs of players, the likes of the late Nicholas Kaartze, an astute supporter, worked his magic down the side lines to push the team during difficult times.

“We were struggling at the time because our team didn’t have a single sponsor.

Our fellow patrons did everything they could to make sure we had transport and meals during trips. Our players used to hop on trucks alongside fans during our away games,” said Kadimo.

The team’s number one fan, Nicholas Kaartze, according to Gotlop, coined the name “Nxau” because during tough games he would give his team a jab by sprinting around the ground chanting the words ‘Nxau, Nxau, Nxau’ a Sekgogthu word for lash or beat up.

Gotlop said the word used to spur the players so much that they would start ripping their opponents apart.

Even on the technical bench, Desert Nxau bragged of senior people who knew how to stem the tide when trouble was knocking, Gotlop said, although he regretted that they did not have fancy qualifications except for the little knowledge they gained from schools.

  “Desert Nxau was formed thanks to the likes of Tapologo Bojang, Agman ‘Salip’ Coetzee who were all returning from school. They formed a formidable squad that never looked back ever since.”

Kadimo highlighted that Nxau’s run of success was not limited to the national first division only, but the side used to down a couple of big super league teams in the then lucrative Coca Cola cup, now defunct.

“We used to go as far as the quarterfinals of that competition; to us, that was a big achievement,” he said, adding that the adage; “All good things shall come to an end” also applied to the Desert Nxau situation.
The aging of influential players such as Cornelius Jansen and Steve Coetzee ushered in a new period of doubt and hopelessness.

According to Gotlop, they realised that their time as administrators was up, so they all agreed to surrender the reigns to young  hopeful administrators.

An error was committed: “I still rue that day. We should have stayed longer and groomed them,” he said with an air of regret.

Gotlop said the young generation charged with running the team did a shoddy job because of power hunger who utilised the club’s resources for their own good.

“I heard that the team equipment such as kits, balls and other training equipment started growing legs. They scattered our resources all over the place,” he said.

He observed that unity, commitment and hard work that used to prevail in the preceding years started to dwindle and replaced by chaos and conflicts amongst committee members.

Administrative shortcomings, according to Gotlop affected the team’s performance and the attitude of the players.

“We were soon relegated and in the past few seasons we have been struggling to attain promotion to the first division,” he said.

Gotlop also lambasted the performance of current crop of players saying they did not play with passion and commitment but drag their feet to training sessions.

He added that the players of today were more distracted by social life adventures such as alcohol intake .

He said the fallen desert giants were now so low that they even fail to attract crowds to their league games.  

Former mouthpiece, Kadimo said foreign European leagues such as the English Premiership had pulled people away from grounds to television screens.

Kadimo and Gotlop said by way of intervention they had since mobilised former administrators and legendary players with a view to forming a strong committee that would lead the team forward.

They said talks of looking for a viable sponsorship were on-going and that they were optimistic that their intervention would refresh things at the club.

As the veterans vowed to reinvigorate the out of favour club, only time will tell if the former ‘flogging boys of the west’ will resume control of their former days or continue exposing their backs for more lashes from emerging powers in King Rodgers and Black Rangers football clubs. ENDS