Cricket coach aims to develop youngsters from grassroots
KFC Mini-Cricket coach, Gift Mathe believes he can produce professional crickets players.
The coaching and education manager for the Gauteng Cricket board, Gift Mathe is passionate about the KFC Mini-Cricket and believes that it is the best platform to introduce future stars to the game.
As evidence of this, he introduced Cobras player, Omphile Ramela to the Mini-Cricket when he was a youngster. Through the Mini-Cricket and Gift’s guidance, Ramela was able to upgrade himself which resulted in an opportunity to better his education and cricket career after he was given a bursary at St Johns.
Mathe is continuously striving to unearth more players through the Mini-Cricket and give them the opportunity to become the future Proteas players. The 40-year old attended school Matseliso High School where he chose cricket as his sport of choice. It was taking him to different places, he enjoyed the action and seeing different parts of Gauteng.
After school, he played in the Premier League for the Transvaal Cricket Board and started coaching part time at the age of 18. The Gauteng Cricket Board brought him in as a coach and his career grew from there and he is now a permanent employee of the Board. He only coaches children of the Mini-Cricket and he believes that it is the best platform to introduce children to the sport and unearth talent from a very young age.
