Letha Zulu

Our coaches feature article this week is a man of many legends. Everybody that has a finger in SA basketball knows Coach Letha Zulu. He’s coached an enormous amount of national team talent and everyone that has played under him has massive respect for him. Always willing to share knowledge or help someone out on the court, you will struggle to find someone of a higher calibre. He has a keen eye for the game and is reknown for his coaching style of being very relaxed, so if he shouts its definitely for good reason. Many a player from DHS will tell you of his none negotiable fitness, ie. if he says run 100 suicides, YOU WILL RUN 100 SUICIDES!

I recently got in touch with him to find out about his coaching history and as usual with Letha, I was not disappointed.

What got you into coaching seriously?

I started taking coaching seriously when I was doing camps in Zululand. At one point I was travelling to different areas every day of the week for clinics. I would coach close to the borders of Mozambique, Nongoma, uLundi etc. Running these clinics in these rural areas really opened my eyes to see that we have so much raw talent in our province but the focus is so much on the big cities. Thats where I realised that coaching isn’t just about coaching, its about giving kids an education through the sport. For me coaching is about being able to change a young persons life and make them a better person in the community.

Have you modelled you coaching after anyone or have you been self taught?

I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by so many good coaches. Growing up I used to watch Joaquim Rodrigues coach and he later became my mentor when I first got to Durban High School. Before that I would watch Craig Gilchrist coach and at some stage coach against his team at DHS.

Along my journey in trying to build my own coaching philosophy I was privileged to have met and be assisted by a man I call the professor of basketball, Coach Thelejane Molupe. He was the one who combined all these puzzle pieces I’d collected over the years of coaching. I was put in a class and taught about the importance of being a coach. I was fortunate to meet all these other coaches who unknowingly played a huge role in my coaching without out realising it such as Flosh, who motivated me with his mindset of winning and talent identification, Coach Zanele who has an excellent program at Vaal and Coach Makena who was always willing to share his knowledge.

My coaching journey through coaching has been fulfilled by so many coaches who shared so much knowledge with me but I also learnt through watching and observing.

What was your favourite coaching moment?

One of my favourite coaching moments? WOW! There are so many I could list that are very special to me.

1. 2007 when Durban High School was invited to Senegal (SEED Academy). On the 1st day we had to play against a Senior club that won a championship in Senegal as they were preparing to go to the FIBA club champs.I had to coach the team as coach Rodrigues was coming the following day. It was an eye opener how your North Western Africa are playing in terms of coaching, understanding the game. Whenever we were down and I called a timeout they would somehow know what I was going to do and change there system to accordingly. Plus I was so fortunate to play against the Senegal under 20 team.

2. Winning all Zone 6 games and qualifying for Afrobasket where we managed to rank 8th on the continent after the tournament.

3. Winning the CUCSA games in Botswana with my varsity team in the same year our u15 boys were runners up in the region 5 youth games.

There are a lot of memories I have from coaching boys, girls, high school, varsity, provincial and national. Its been a roller coaster of journey.

Is there a favourite team that you have coached?

I don’t have “A” favourite as I always try to embrace the team I have year in and year out. Bare in mind that basketball has evolved so its difficult to look back and compare. Way back then there were so many tournaments like the Milo u16, Allied u18 later became Engen u18, schools u16, u19, and open IPT’s. Unfortunately now there a too few if any basketball tournaments for the schools.

What is the highest level you have coached?

FIBA Afrobasket and CUCSA games

What is your biggest accomplishment as a coach?

Winning CUCSA for the first time with a senior varsity team and taking the u16 national team to Mali.

What is your motivation as a coach?

Waking up and being given the chance to change young boys and girls lives.

Do you think the game is in safe hands?

Yes, there are lots of young and passionate coaches from different provinces that I believe will lead the game in our country in the right direction. If we can get more junior programmes in place I think we have the ability to dominate Zone 6/ southern Africa.