TALENT, EDUCATION BEST COMBO – ‘PHAMPETHA’

MBABANE – He wore gold in Malawi as a player and then wore several locally as player and coach lately at Correctional Sunrise, a ladies team in the country’s elite league under the banner of Nedbank Eswatini.

His team has been the dominant side in the ladies category in recent years to date and no wonder he was named the country’s Sports Coach of the Year in 2018 during the inaugural national sports awards. His name is Mbuso ‘Phampetha’ Vilakati who is a Correctional Officer, learn more below; Who is Mbuso ‘Phempetha’ Vilakati and where are you from in a few words?

I am from Zombodze under the Manzini Region and I am into volleyball. Share your volleyball background to present time? I started in 1999 while in Form One in Mankayane High School under my mentor, the late Vusi V.O. Dlamini in 1999. In 2003, I joined Super Stars in the elite league; in 2004 I joined Lomahasha Customs before a two-year loan to Mhlume. I was back with Customs in 2006 which is when I started my coaching as well while in my first year of university at Luyengo Campus. Correctional Sunrise comes after a team I joined in 2012; Nhlangano Sunrise was later adopted by Correctional Services where I became the coach of the ladies team under the great Dr. Thulani Maphosa. I became head coach in 2015 to date.

Your best and worst moments in the game so far? I got quite a few, but my number one best was winning the Zone 6 Senior Championships with Correctional Sunrise under coach Friction and also getting a short attachment with the Egypt women national team in 2019. I don’t look at negatives so no worst moment. How does it feel being dominant in the volleyball elite league? Being dominant in the ladies category is no joke, it takes a lot of hard work from the players and the support from the administration of the Commissioner General of His Majesty’s Correctional Services does it for us. What has the sport done for you that you will always treasure? It has created relationships with other sports people and contributed to me being hired by Correctional Services. It has taught me to be a mentor and to learn a lot of interpersonal skills which come in handy with my work.

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