By KOPANO MONAHENG
Preseason camps are always important. The camps not only give technical team more time to plan, assess the squad and develop strategies on how to approach matches once the league resumes.
But they also allow coaches to integrate new signings into the team, helping them understand the club’s playing style, tactics and expectations before competitive football begins as in most cases once the league is in full swing, there is often little time to make such adjustments. Teams that skipped the preseason process often struggle to find consistency early in the season.
Lehlohonolo Seema, head coach of Siwelele FC expressed his satisfaction with his side’s preseason preparations, believing they have laid a solid foundation for the upcoming Betway Premiership campaign. After finishing just above 10th place last season, Siwelele are aiming for significant improvement. With a productive preseason behind them, the club will be targeting a top-eight finish when the 2026/27 season comes to an end in May next year.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re not going to believe me. But it’s the first time that I finished the team and have a preseason. It’s a feeling that I have been looking forward to. I’m happy,”said Seema.
He said he was excited about the way things are going at the moment, though they lost many players to other teams but those who remained with the team will definitely do the work they were hired to do on Sunday 6pm.
“We have lost a lot of players. Most of them were released, and we had discussion with our team and management because there are those two that when I woke up in the morning, I checked, ihooyo, my boy is gone. But it’s only fair if the player is going to green pastures.
“A top eight finish is going to be a perfect one for us. And as for a trophy, we’re going to challenge for everything this season,” said the coach adding that if Siwelele doesn’t finish in the top eight bracket, they would have done injustice to the fans.
“I’m just happy that they’re gonna see the Sunday games again. Most of our games we play Sunday afternoon. I can tell you that football will never be the same, and teams are going to feel the heartbeat of Siwelele in Bloemfontein.”
Of course, they needed to improve in every department that’s another thing they were lacking last season. They also needed to look at the number of draws they had last season. “We need to improve that, and once we improve that, everything will finish better,” he concluded.
