There is a face of football that we mainly don’t look at. Bwezani brings in the face of Public Relations and we stop at Zesco United were we talk to Katebe, a lady that has been at the core of Zesco United for some time now.
*TO BEGIN WITH, IT IS VERY RARE FOR WOMEN TO GET SO INVOLVED IN FOOTBALL. WHAT IS YOUR EXPIRENCE TO DATE?*
Firstly thank you for giving me this rare chance to be on your blog.
It has been a wonderful three years and eight months that i have been at Zesco and trust me there is always something new every day.
In the beginning it was hard for me because i had to adapt to the football world, some teams didnt take the idea of Zesco having a female lad in my position really well of course because of the superstitions that surround the involvement of women in football, not only in Zambia but Africa as a whole but with time I have learnt alot and here i am.
Therefore, I can simply say the experience has been a roller coaster ride but i have enjoyed it despite the challenges.
*KINDLY SHARE WITH US SOME OF THE DIFFICULT PARTS OF YOUR WORK BECAUSE FROM THE TERRACES, IT LOOKS LIKE AN EASY JOB*
Lol, to start with,the most difficult part is when i have challenges with people close to me, sometimes tempers maybe high in camp and people will refuse to give interviews to journalists, eish those moments break me ???.. As we know few teams have media officers so going to another teams dressing room to fetch the coach for an interview takes a lot of courage.
Other challenges are when people think you are hiding information when you are simply just doing your job and procedure has to be followed.
Bwezani, *being a woman in this field has made me become thick skinned*, people judge me as an unfriendly person before they get to know the type of person i am but really that has helped because i get comments from people of the opposite sex.
Sometimes i get phone calls as late as 11 pm or even in the week hours only to be asked if there is a game the following day.
Sometimes you are at a game and you have friends and family who want to sit with you but you just cant. Then after the game, they complain of being abandoned lol, *very few people realize that the stadium is actually my office*.
*ELABORATE TO US SOME OF YOUR LIGHT MOMENTS YOU HAVE EXPIRENCED*
Alot lol, there is a way to welcome a new member of the Zesco United family and when the players made me dance lol, i knew i was home..
I love laughing alot ???, so when am with the players we usually chat , joke and they treat me like one of them hence my *soccerchiq*
As we closed the season my favorite moment was our trip back from Lumwana.. I know most camp songs by the way.!!
*ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED THAT ZESCO FAILED TO WIN THE LEAGUE THREE TIMES ON THE TROT* .
I cant quite say disappointed, looking at the number of games we had, the travels, the fatigue to mention a few ruled us out of any continental competition but we worked hard and had we not dropped points we would have defended the league. This was one of the targets which was set for this year but was not achieved so it was a bad feeling.
*SHARE YOUR EXPIRENCE IN THE 2016 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TROT*.
2016, phew?.
I can safely say i have learnt a whole lot this year from other teams, i have made friends and i have learnt various ways of how M.Os do their work.
My overall experience has been awesome, i have disappointed myself this year because i didnt do alot on my workplan of course due to traveling but i have gained experience which i hope to use the coming season.
Although the whole experience was interesting, some times i would break down because i would miss my family alot but the CAF journey has made me open to explore other MOs way of doing things.
Am also humbled because the CAF media team recognized me as one of the officers in the last 16 teams that complied with the media officers guildline.
*ZESCO HAD A LOT OF GAMES IN HAND AND CLENCHED SECOND SPOT IN THE LAST DAY. DO U THINK THIS BEFITS A SUCCESSFUL TEAM LIKE YOURS?*
Bwezani, this happens every where, i always refuse to call a team a big or small team as long as a team is in the super Division then its a big team no doubt.
We had almost 11 games in hand *and getting second spot was no mean achievement*, the guys were on the road every other week, and we were fighting for the place with Nkana who enjoyed a fairly good season, so personally i think hard work and determination is what resulted into second place , *the issues of big or small team to me really doesn’t work*.
We had a chance to qualify for continental games before the last day but we didn’t and its football regardless of the status.
*WHAT WAS THE MOST PAINFUL RESULT FOR YOU AS A ZESCO UNITED PR THIS SEASON?*
The loss to Sundowns was the most painful and also the loss to Nkana.
The second one was painful because we even saw ugly scenes of violence that i have never seen at Levy before.
*WHAT ABOUT THE SWEETEST VICTORY?*
The win over Al Ahly , alot of people didnt expect Zesco to beat Ahly.
I remember in May at the group stage draws my *Boss Justin Mumba* and i were only asked about how we felt being drawn in the same group at the ‘Kings’ of Africa.. See why i said there is no small or big team.
*WHAT NEXT FOR ZESCO IN 2017?*
Alot really, we have alot of activities planned for our fans, more importantly we hope to make replica jersys available to everyone including those in the furthest corners of the country as well as outside the country.
Administratively we hope to work harder and put our club on the one of the best managed clubs in the CAF legion.
*DO YOU EXPECT AM OVERHAUL OF PLAYERS?*
Hahhahahahaha lets wait and see.
*WHAT ARE YOUR LAST WORDS*
Nothing much just want to thank you for this opportunity to feature on your page. You are doing great things for Zambian football and am glad that it’s slowly becoming as popular as the PSL.
*Compliments of the season and all the best in everything.*
