Youth Leadership in Focus: training4changeS’ Coach Keke

April 09, 2021

With the launch of applications for our Beyond Sport Youth Advisory Board, we are taking a month-long focus on some exceptional young leaders we’ve come to know over the years. Today, we feature Keke Lehana, a Courageous Use of Sport Award supported by WWE winner from our 2018 Beyond Sport Global Awards. Based in South Africa, he spoke to us about being a mentor, coaching with training4changeS and his approach to leadership.

As a coach in Stellenbosch, Keke mentors and supports young people in sport, education and life-skills in South African townships. His traumatic childhood experiences from growing up in a difficult household inspired his mission to serve vulnerable children - building up his personal strength and determination to tackle adversity head on. In 2016, his coaching skills and his devotion to helping others earned him an invitation to the FIFA Futsal Coaching Course where he gained valuable knowledge that he uses in his work at the training4changeS Futsal Academy.

For Keke, who grew up playing football, sport has always been a great passion. Because he didn’t have anyone at home to talk to as a a child, he enjoyed his time on the field and interacting with his teammates. Now, as a coach himself, he tries to create space for inclusion and equality where each individual is valued.

“The influence I have as a coach is very powerful. I have seen the responsibility I have as a teacher and mentor. I try to create a space where the young people I work with can talk openly, and then I can share from my experience having gone through the things they are going through.”

“Some of my players do feel like they can’t talk to anyone at home, but they always come to me to share their concerns and open up about the challenges they face. My players invite me to speak into their life, to help them overcome the challenges they are facing.”

“Most coaches focus only on the sport, and the players on field performance, but my philosophy is to focus on the whole player and who they can become as an individual, as well as delivering high quality sports coaching.” 

He shared that winning the Courageous Use of Sport Award encouraged him to continue his work and showed him his ability to inspire other young people to be leaders in their own spaces. “It gave me a hunger to learn more. That experience increased my desire to help the players I work with, and other coaches around. It encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing, to keep learning and improving my skills so I could share that with others.”

Beyond his dedication to training4changeS, Keke gives his time to multiple youth soccer teams. Through the pandemic, he helped find new ways to stay connected with his players. 

“We were able to raise funds to provide food for those young people and their families who were at risk during lockdown, and then we could visit them in their homes to deliver the food each month. This was a creative and meaningful way to stay engaged with them. During those visits, we also provided home school packets so they could keep learning even when schools were closed.” 

From the start of his journey, Keke has gained confidence and feels that he’s grown greatly as a person. “Especially during the last year with the COVID pandemic I have been able to devote a lot of time to online learning, and I’ve gained a lot of new expertise that helps me to be a more effective change maker in my community.”

Keke feels that his youth is a great advantage because his players find it easier to relate to him. “They see that I can understand and empathise with what they are going through at any moment.” His willingness and hunger to learn as much as possible has posed as a key strength for Keke, as well as his approachability to the youth he coaches.

“It is important to me that I make time to listen to the young people I coach. That is something I didn’t have when I was young, there was no one that I could open up to, so I know it is important for them, and it’s something that they need.”

“I always try to create a space for shared learning. Whenever I am coaching and mentoring young people, I believe communication must be a two-way street; as much as I can invest what I know, I always believe that I have something to learn from others.”

Setting targets and goals is key to Keke’s approach. He explains that it’s important to make sure that his players achieve those targets before moving onto something else. Keke insight for older coaches in the sector that amongst everything, it is important to create a space where learning is fun for young people.

“I’ve found that some coaches and leaders tend to get carried away with the success of a few individuals, and then always focus their attention on that same individual, I think it is important to encourage everyone. It is important to praise positive behaviour when you see it, instead of only disciplining negative behaviour.” 

Most recently, Keke joined the Stellenbosch Hub of the Global Shapers Community to learn more about social entrepreneurship and making a sustainable impact in communities. His vision is to start a collaborative learning space for other young coaches in his community - a place where he’s able to share his experience and knowledge gained at training4changeS, and ultimately, to help improve the work that is being done through sport. 

“I want to help equip coaches with skills and resources to use sport as a space for education, and a platform for developing players holistically to their full potential. If more coaches can collaborate using sport for education and mentoring, as well as delivering high quality coaching, football in South Africa can develop better and our communities can be transformed.”