Tsoanelo Pholo (born 13 December 1982 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

) is a

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, who was a member of the national squad that finished 9th at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. She was born in Maseru, Lesotho and later moved to

where she still resides. and she is

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d ''Coach''. Pholo played for a provincial team called Southern Gauteng. She was recruited to represent South Africa in the

touch rugby Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby league in which players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball. A formal, competitive variety, known as Touch ...

World Cup in 1999. She also played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. After her retirement from playing international hockey, Pholo pursued her coaching ambitions. Coach Pholo is an FIH (

International Hockey Federation The International Hockey Federation, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major int ...

) Level 4 Accredited Field Hockey coach & FIH Coach Educator. She is

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the women's 1st team at the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg, colloquially known as UJ, is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant fundi ...

, head coach of the Southern Gauteng provincial Junior (Under 21) team, and she coached the South African team which won the

2018 African Youth Games The 3rd African Youth Games took place in Algiers, Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by T ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, Algeria and were semi-finalists at the

2018 Youth Olympic Games The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held from 6 to 18 October 2018 in Buenos Aires, A ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina. She is the striker coach for the

South Africa men's national field hockey team The South Africa men's national field hockey team represents South Africa at international field hockey matches and tournaments. Tournament history Summer Olympics * 1996 – 10th place * 2004 – 10th place * 2008 – 12th place * 2012 – 11t ...

International senior tournaments

* 2003 –

All Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

(Abuja, Nigeria) * 2004 –

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(Athens, Greece) * 2005 – Champions Challenge (Virginia Beach, United States) * 2006 –

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(Madrid, Spain) * 2007 – World Cup (Vienna, Austria)

References

External links

* * * 1982 births Living people South African female field hockey players South African female indoor hockey players South African field hockey coaches Olympic field hockey players for South Africa Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Field hockey players from Johannesburg African Games gold medalists for South Africa Field hockey players at the 2003 All-Africa Games Medalists at the 2003 All-Africa Games African Games medalists in field hockey 2007 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup players 21st-century South African sportswomen {{SouthAfrica-fieldhockey-bio-stub