Kaizer Chiefs have been praised by head coach Molefi Ntseki and his
players for the appointment of renowned sports psychologist, Dr. Henning
Gericke. Amakhosi brought in the services of Gericke in early September,
who joined their technical team as a high-performance coach.
Gericke has had specific areas to focus on with the Amakhosi team, which
have had a turbulent start to the season, including spectators throwing
missiles on the pitch for two games already and being knocked out by
Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final. Ntseki says Gericke’s inclusion
to the technical team has helped them a lot.
“Well done to Dr Henning, I think he’s playing a very important role in
making us understand things that on a sober mind you don’t want to
understand,” Ntseki said in a press conference.
Amakhosi striker Ranga Chivaviro opened up on the appointment of Gericke,
who has over two decades of experience in sports psychology, having worked
with the likes of the Springboks rugby team, the Proteas South African
cricket national team, Bafana Bafana during the 2009 Confederations Cup
and the Sharks provincial rugby team.
“With his experience, the way he motivates us before games, during
training sessions, he comes and speaks to us. He also gives us an
open-door policy of managing to speak to him directly,” Chivaviro said in
a press conference.
“But him being around, I think it has added value, there’s a difference,
we always look forward to having those meetings with him but I think the
most important thing is the experience that he has, he has worked with a
lot of athletes, not necessarily in the football industry (but) in other
sports as well, it just tells you about the calibre of the man. I feel the
value he’s adding is visible,” he added.
Chiefs defender Thatayaone Ditlhokwe also hailed Gericke’s importance to
the team and says they are grateful for his services.
“He’s very important, it’s one aspect that was overlooked in the past but
you can see now most of the teams are doing it because football can
sometimes demand a lot from a player,” Ditlhokwe told the media in a press
conference.
“It can bring a lot of stress, so sometimes you need someone who is
outside the field so that he can try to show you things in a different
way, to bring hope where maybe you lost hope. You can’t play football when
the well-being of your mind is not in a good state, so it’s something very
important, it’s helpful and we’re grateful for it,” he added.
Kaizer Chiefs have been praised by head coach Molefi Ntseki and his
players for the appointment of renowned sports psychologist, Dr. Henning
Gericke. Amakhosi brought in the services of Gericke in early September,
to join their technical team as a high-performance coach.
Gericke has had specific areas to focus on with the Amakhosi team, who
have had a difficult start to the season. Ntseki has credited Gericke for
helping the team understand the challenges they have faced and for
providing an open-door policy for the players to approach him. Amakhosi
striker Ranga Chivaviro also spoke highly of the mental coach, stating
that his experience and value has been visible.
Chiefs defender Thatayaone Ditlhokwe also praised Gericke, noting that his
services have been helpful and that the team is grateful for them. Gericke
has over two decades of experience in sports psychology, having previously
worked with the likes of the Springboks rugby team, the Proteas South
African cricket national team, Bafana Bafana during the 2009
Confederations Cup and the Sharks provincial rugby team.
