Thabane Sutu is a

Mosotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player. Sutu began his footballing career in his native Lesotho and later played for Egyptian club

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. During his time with Al Ahly, Sutu also captained his national team from 1994 to 1997. He is currently the head varsity soccer coach at Louisville Trinity High School, after serving as the goalkeeping coach under head coach

James O'Connor James O'Connor may refer to: Politics and law * James O'Connor (Louisiana politician) (1870–1941), U.S Representative from Louisiana * James F. O'Connor (1878–1945), U.S Representative from Montana * James Francis Thaddeus O'Connor (1886–1 ...

at MLS side Orlando City and

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side Louisville City.

Coaching career

In 1998, Sutu officially ended his playing career and returned to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as a youth coach. However, after several months at his boyhood club, Sutu decided to move to America with his soon-to-be wife and study

exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

at the University of Louisville. In 2001, Sutu returned to football as the technical director and coach at the youth level side United 1996 in Louisville. Through his work with the youth club, Sutu was the recipient of Kentucky's Coach of the Year award in 2006 and led his team to a Kentucky state youth championship in 2009. In 2015, Sutu joined Louisville City for its inaugural

season as the team's goalkeeping coach. After reaching the USL Eastern Conference Final in three consecutive seasons and winning the 2017 USL Championship, Sutu parted ways with Louisville City in the summer of 2018 to join former Louisville City head coach

as his goalkeeping coach at Orlando City of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. In August 2018, Sutu was inducted into the Kentucky Soccer Hall of Fame for his work with United 1996 and Louisville City.

Honours

Player

Arsenal *

Lesotho Premier League The Lesotho Premier League also known as Econet Premier League is the top football division in Lesotho and was created in 1970. Econet Telecom Lesotho are the current league sponsor, since 2017/2018 season. Vodacom Lesotho were the previous leagu ...

: 1989, 1991, 1993 * Lesotho Cup: 1989, 1991 Al Ahly *

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League ( ar, الدوري المصري الممتاز), also known as WE Egyptian Premier League (WE EPL) after the addition of title sponsor WE, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the top level of th ...

: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 *

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Goalkeeping coach

Louisville City *

USL Cup The USL Championship Final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports lea ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

Louisville City bio
Living people Lesotho men's footballers Lesotho men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Al Ahly SC players Orlando City SC non-playing staff Year of birth missing (living people) {{Lesotho-footy-bio-stub