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Mr Aaron “Hans Coetzee” Thidiela.  

Hans Coetzee, the forgotten legend

 

Mr Aaron Thidiela is one of the local football legends whose history remains undocumented. Hans Coetzee, as he was known in his heydays, said he started to play football in the streets of Vhufuli village at the age of 10.

His school mates from Vhufuli Primary School know him as one of the best athletes in the area. He carried the school’s hopes for several years when it came to the 100-meter and 400-meter sprints during athletics meetings.

After completing his primary education in 1969, Thidiela moved to Tshivhase High School the following year. Hans continued to be a shining star at Tshivhase High School, representing the institution in athletics at different levels.

He later left athletics and focused more on his favourite sport, football. Thidiela was an allrounder and, according to him, the only position he did not attempt was goalkeeping. That was when the technical staff of the local soccer team, Gooldville Young Tigers, saw talent in Thidiela.

At Tigers, Thidiela played as a full striker most of the time, but as a multitalented player the technical staff would move him to extinguish fires at the back.

He was forced to hang up his soccer boots in 1977 after sustaining a serious knee injury. Thidiela sadly revealed that he was taken off the pitch on a stretcher after a player of Mianzwi Green Hornet kicked him on the knee at the Vhufuli grounds.

He became one of the club’s administrators, following the injury. Young Tigers lifted several trophies, including the McCoys KO Competition, during Thidiela’s tenure as the chairman of the club.

He later migrated to Black Leopards FC, where he worked with Mr Zachariah Mathelemusa as administrator. When Mathelemusa retired from football, Thidiela did not look back. He established a club called Phungo All Stars that served as the reserve side for Black Leopards.

Phungo All Stars produced players such as Rodney Ramagalela, Edgar Manaka and the current assistant coach for Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM), Mr Lucky Nelukau, under Mr Thidiela’s leadership.

Thidiela retired from football when Black Leopards gained promotion to the Absa Premiership Division in 2000 and his brother, Mr David Thidiela, took over as the chairman of the club.

The 66-year-old Thidiela is a full-time pastor of the United African Apostolic Church (UAAC) at the Vhufuli branch.

 

 

Date:04 April 2020

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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