Kick4Life to send two more players overseas

NTHAKO MAJORO

MASERU – Kick4Life have secured another scholarship for two of its players, Bataung Molefi and Tsielo Mokebe, to study and play competitive soccer in the United States of America (USA).

Molefi, 20, will join Lewis and Clark Community College, while Mokebe, 18, will be attending Freed Hardeman University. Both players will depart for the United States in two weeks.

They will be the second and third players to secure the International Student Athletes Scholarship with Kick4Life this year, following Tumeliso Ratšiu, who moved to Iceland a few months ago to pursue a professional football contract while continuing his studies.

Kick4Life have a history of sending its top-performing players, both academically and athletically, overseas. Last year, they sent four players abroad through the same scholarship—three to the United States and one to Iceland.

Mokebe will be reuniting with her former Kick4Life teammates, Thabo Mahlaha and Seabata Tšemane, who joined Freed Hardeman University in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Molefi will be the first Kick4Life player to join Lewis and Clark Community College. Kick4Life Chairman Baba Malephane emphasised the organisation’s goal of sending four to five players overseas annually.

“Our target should be to send four to five players, and I still believe that target will be met,” Malephane said during a press briefing yesterday. “For now, we have two players who will leave in two weeks to join the others.”

To date, Kick4Life have sent 13 players overseas through this scholarship, with Molefi and Mokebe bringing the total to 15. Molefi expressed his gratitude to Kick4Life for the opportunity to further his studies.

“This is the biggest opportunity I have got, and I would like to thank Kick4Life for welcoming me when I first joined them as a kid until today. They gave me support when I needed it.”

He promised to remain committed and work hard in the USA. “I am going to study for an associate degree in business, and I promise to work hard,” Molefi said. Mokebe also expressed her gratitude to Kick4Life, noting that the scholarship would significantly improve her life.

“This opportunity is going to change my life for the better. My childhood dream of being a professional player will become a reality.” Mokebe joined Kick4Life in 2019 as a Form A learner at Thetsane High School.

“I started playing football because I did not want to be the school parcel,” she said. She was later promoted from the Kick4Life development team to the senior women’s team, Kick4Life Women, which compete in the country’s top-flight league, the Women’s Super League.

Similarly, Molefi currently plays for Kick4Life’s senior men’s team, Juventude FC, in the Lesotho PostBank A Division. Molefi will stay in the US for two years, while Mokebe will be there for four years.