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Rabale Graduates from US Junior College

Rabale Graduates from US Junior College

Kick4Life Academy student-athlete Boitumelo Rabale has completed an Associate Degree at Lewis & Clark Community College (LCCC) in Godfrey, Illinois. Her graduation ceremony was set to take place on May 20th, but due to public health requirements was granted the honour remotely, instead.   

“Queen”, as Rabale is popularly known, joins two other K4L teammates – Senate Letsie and Morapeli Lesoetsa – in earning an Associate Degree at LCCC through the Academy program. Boitumelo left Lesotho in August 2018 to pursue her academic and football career after Kick4Life secured a scholarship for her.

Expressing delight over her achievement, Rabale described this as a life changing moment which she cannot stop cherishing: “this achievement means so much to me because it’s going to open up many opportunities….it's going to prepare me intellectually and socially for my career and my life.”

She adds, “Coming into this program as a new student-athlete, I didn’t have an idea of exactly what I wanted to do….This program taught me specific careers goals and interests; it has given me an idea of what my passion really is – engineering.”

Earlier this year, Rabale was named the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) Womens Soccer Player of the Year by United Soccer Coaches after scoring 57 goals and recording 33 assists in the league and helping her team to a 3rd place finish at the NJCAA Division National Tournament in November 2019.

She thanked Kick4Life and her fellow Academy graduates for affording her this great opportunity and supporting her through her studies. She went on to give gratitude to her mother, whom she explained plays a vital role in guiding her through everything that she does on and off the field. She concluded, “I'd like to say a special thanks to Mike Tudor from the Kick4Life US Board and his wife Natasha who have provided me so much additional support during my time in the US.”

The Lesotho Women’s National team captain encourages boys and girls looking to pursue opportunities through football to study hard at school as well so that they can have something to fall back on after their football career has come to an end. 

Looking to the future, Rabale states: “In my next chapter, football-wise, I would like to improve my abilities, skills and receive new challenges like seeing myself playing professionally amongst some of the biggest teams in the world. In my next Academic chapter, I would like to further my studies, [complete my Bachelor’s Degree] and even complete a Masters degree, if possible.”

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