Growing up, Seeiso Monyane played football with his friends after school in the streets of Ha Thamae, south of Maseru. At the age of 12, his childhood friend, Teboho Mophethe, encouraged him to join Thamae FC, their local neighbourhood team coached by current Kick4Life Senior Women’s Assistant Coach Teboho Takisi. He joined the team, not knowing the impact that decision would have on his life. More than a decade later, football remains at the centre of his journey.
Seeiso’s first encounter with Kick4Life came in 2014, when Development Coach Molefi Katane invited his team to take part in a youth tournament at Kick4Life’s Football for Hope Centre during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. As a leading hub for football and youth development in Lesotho, Kick4Life organised a World Cup-themed competition in which each team represented one of the tournament’s participating nations. Shortly afterwards, Seeiso and several of his teammates were invited to attend Kick4Life’s development trials. He impressed the coaches with his performances and earned a place in the programme.
Seeiso spent three years in the Kick4Life development programme before his football journey was temporarily interrupted in 2017. Concerned that his academic performance was declining, his parents asked him to take a break from the game, believing he was dedicating too much time to football at the expense of his studies. He shifted his focus to schoolwork, and his grades soon improved. In 2019, he returned to Kick4Life, eager to continue his football journey. However, just a year later, the COVID-19 pandemic brought organised sport to a standstill. When restrictions were lifted in 2021, Seeiso resumed playing with the Under-17 team, but shortly afterwards, he suffered a knee injury that forced him to step away from the pitch once again. It was during this challenging period that he began to consider ways of staying involved in football beyond playing.
He approached the Lesotho Football Association to become a referee. His application was successful, and he began officiating matches in the lower football league, the B-Division, where the Kick4Life development team (Juventude) was competing. Later, in the 2022/23 season, Kick4Life Juventude became champions and earned promotion to A-Division. Seeiso helped facilitate the team’s physical tests as they prepared for a new season. Kick4Life Juventude Head Coach Mukete Mboh, impressed by Seeiso’s passion, organisational skills and proactive nature, approached him with an invitation to become his assistant coach. Mukete had also noticed Seeiso’s ability to observe, ask thoughtful questions and take responsibility, qualities he believed could translate well into coaching. Seeing potential in him beyond his playing ability, Mukete asked if he would be interested in joining him as an assistant. Seeiso gladly accepted the offer.
The timing was perfect for Seeiso, as the Maseru District Football Association had organised a coaching course and Kick4Life had nominated candidates. Seeiso was selected; he attended the course and attained a Confederation of African Football (CAF) D Licence. Seeiso continued as Juventude assistant coach. In addition, he volunteered to coach in the Soccer School programme, a grassroots development programme in the Kick4Life academy that guides children from the age of four through football training, academic studies, and character enrichment sessions. While busy with coaching, Seeiso saw a job advertised for Duty Officer within Kick4Life Social Enterprises, an opportunity to earn an income: all his previous work in the Academy had been voluntary. He applied for the position, was successful, and began working in the role.
Coach Mukete Mboh has seen Seeiso evolve. At first, he had no clear direction, but then he acquired new knowledge and insight and has now burgeoned into someone who actively pursues multiple opportunities within football and beyond. Mukete highlights Seeiso’s ability to learn quickly, take on responsibility, and grow across coaching, organisation and other roles within Kick4Life. Reflecting on Seeiso’s journey, Mukete said: “He’s going to go far because he’s always learning. He asks the right questions, thinks carefully before acting, and is willing to take on new challenges.” These qualities, Mukete believes, have been key to Seeiso’s growth and will serve him well in the future.
As Duty Officer at Kick4Life’s Hokahanya Inn and Conference Centre, Seeiso serves as a key point of contact for guests, handling bookings, enquiries, check-ins and check-outs while ensuring excellent customer service. His line manager, Busisiwe Potiane, said he is very good at interacting with guests and always maintains a warm demeanour, making visitors feel welcome and helping them make the most of their stay. “We’ve seen him grow significantly in his role through increased day shifts aimed at strengthening his professionalism and communication skills. We increased his day shifts because they are typically busier and involve interaction with a wider range of guests and clients. This allowed him to gain more experience handling guest enquiries and services while enabling us to monitor and support the development of his communication skills, both by email and phone, as well as his overall conduct. We’ve seen a huge, huge improvement,” she said.
Simultaneously, he continues to grow as a football coach, developing his ability to teach the game, adapt to players’ needs and inspire positive character development. As Assistant Coach of Juventude, he played an important role in the team’s recent Lesotho A-Division League campaign. The club was crowned champions, a testament to the quality of the technical team’s work and a significant milestone in Seeiso’s growing coaching journey.
While balancing responsibilities in hospitality and football coaching, Seeiso has also embraced another passion: long-distance running. Although he had always enjoyed running while growing up, he never had a platform through which to pursue it seriously. That changed when Kick4Life introduced its weekly Community Run4YourLife running and walking sessions, giving him a platform to pursue running more seriously while training consistently alongside a community of like-minded runners. Through the programme, he has improved his fitness, built meaningful connections and prepared for competitive races. His dedication paid off on 9 May 2026, when he finished first in the 21 km category of the “Alliance Hillbusterz Last Long Run Marathon”, one of Lesotho’s premier long-distance running events.
At just 23 years old, Seeiso has already built an impressive portfolio of experiences as a football player, coach, long-distance runner and hospitality professional. Reflecting on his journey, he said: “I would like to thank Kick4Life for the opportunities it has given me, from coaching certification, on-site football-related training and short courses, including safeguarding in sport and the recently completed Social and Emotional Competencies workshops by the Football for Worldwide Union, to customer service and hospitality training. The skills I am acquiring are shaping me into a well-rounded, employable individual who will be able to tackle life from different angles. I can already see my life changing, and I look forward to the future with Kick4Life.”
Seeiso’s story demonstrates the broad and lasting impact of Kick4Life’s integrated model. Through sport, education, employability training and personal development opportunities, participants can discover new talents, gain valuable qualifications, build career pathways and develop the confidence to pursue their ambitions both on and off the field.
