Sekhukhune United have confirmed the appointment of Owen Da Gama as co-coach alongside Macdonald Makhubedu.
Da Gama has been unemployed since parting ways with TS Galaxy earlier this season and will join the Sekhukhune technical team alongside Makhubedu and assistant coach Thabo Senong.
“Sekhukhune United Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Owen «Thifhuriwi”” Da Gama as the co-coach to the team,” their statement read.
“Da Gama who is affectionally known as “the Rubber Doll” will be working alongside Sekhukhune United FC Head coach, McDonald Makhubedu for the remainder of the 2021/22 DSTV Premiership campaign.
“Da Gama (60) was born on the 18th of August 1961 in Volksrust, South Africa. He previously managed Dynamos, HP Silver Stars, PSM Parkhurst, Orlando Pirates, Free State Stars, Bloemfontein Celtic, Platinum Stars, South Africa Under 23 team, South Africa National Team (Assistant Coach), Highlands Park as well as TS Galaxy.
“Da Gama started his coaching career at Dynamos in Thohoyandou that participated in the First Division. He led Silver Stars to victory in the 2006 Telkom Knockout Cup after defeating Ajax Cape Town. In the 2006/07 season, Silver Stars (Platinum Stars) finished 2nd in the league and managed to achieve a place in the 2008 CAF Champions League.”
“Da Gama has been part of South African Football history for many years and have also won Telkom Knockout Cup in 2006,” Sekhukhune United FC Chairman Simon Malatji was quoted as saying.
“As Sekhukhune United we are particularly keen to appoint South African coaches and express its commitment and confidence in the talent and ability of our local coaches.”
“You know, using my experience in the PSL for the last 20 years, a very important subject that I was asked, this a very important question, is how to motivate the players and how are you going to help the team turn its fortunes,” Da Gama told the club’s media department.
“I think very importantly, I have to get into the heads of the players, I’ve got to understand where they are, what are their ambitions, where they want to go, what they want to achieve. And by understanding how a player thinks, then you can start now motivating him in the direction that he wants to go.
“You can’t treat a striker the way you treat a goalkeeper. Goalkeepers needs specialised training, strikers need specialised training, defenders need specialised training, midfielders need specialised training and so on.
“That’s how you motivate a player. So understanding how a player thinks and where he is at in his career, how motivated is he, what does he want to achieve?
“That will help us to be able to get into the heads and motivate them to maximise their talents at this fantastic team.”
