WATCH: How Jayiya Got Into Coaching At UJ
Bhongolethu Jayiya is coaching at University of Johannesburg. Image: Gallo Images
Former Bidvest Wits and Kaizer Chiefs winger Bhongolethu Jayiya has given insight into how he got to coaching the under-19s at University of Johannesburg.
Jayiya stopped playing after leaving Amakhosi in 2019 and revealed that he went through a period of self-improvement before he started having a passion to coach and develop the next generation of South African players.
“After Chiefs, I just sat down. I looked at my career and I focused on self-improvement. I did a few online courses to keep my mind going. I only started coaching three years ago. From 2020 to 2023, it was just self-improvement, trying to figure out what’s next. In those three years, something hit me. Why not start at grassroots and help them out as much as possible. In 2023, I started training at Nike Centre in Soweto. I was training with my friends and then something came up where they said ‘why don’t you coach because you have the experience?’ But I thought coaching was not for me. Then I went into kasi (township) tournaments, coaching a few teams there. Then I was like ‘there is something here’. What changed the most was when I helped one of these kids from my hometown to get into one of the first teams in the townships, so I thought it’s possible. Even one of my childhood coaches, coach Pat, said ‘your brain is very interesting, why don’t you come help me out at UJ’. So, I arrived at UJ in 2023, just to help him out. He was like ‘since I am the head coach, I am going to give you all the sessions’. I started from there. Once I started, I saw the passion is now with me helping these kids. So, I kept on going till now. I got my (CAF) D License. I am planning to get my C license. My biggest dream is to have an academy, where I can start these kids from a small. It’s not something I want to do right now. I am still doing research. I am still trying to get my teeth in the game and to see how far I can go and learning from people.”
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