Noel Kaseke
| Noel Kaseke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Noel Kaseke December 24, 1980 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| Education | Marist Brothers Dete |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1999 - 2018 |
| Spouse(s) | Blessing |
| Children | Katecho, Karsten and Myles |
Noel Kaseke is a Zimbabwean former footballer who was born on 24 December 1980 and hung up his boots in 2018.[1] He is a former player for Highlanders Football Club as a defender.
Background
Noel Kaseke was born on 24 December 1980. He grew up in Mzilikazi and Makokoba and his late father, who used to work for the National Railways of Zimbabwe was transferred to Dete. Kaseke is the second born in family of five boys, his father passed away in 2000 while his mother is a teacher at Dominican Convent Primary School. He has been married to Blessing for 15 years with the couple blessed with three boys, the first born Katecho aged 14, the second Karsten is eight while the last Myles is two years old. All his children were born outside Zimbabwe, the first two in Cyprus and last in UAE.
Education
Kaseke did his primary school education at Sir Roy Welensky.
Secondary at Marist Brothers Secondary School in Dete after his late father was transferred to work there. He did his Advanced Level at Founders High School where he got seven points from a combination of English, Geography and Ndebele.
Career
Kaseke started his senior footballing career in the Highlanders Football Club in 1999. Three years later he moved for the first time to Europe, and joined the KF Erzeni Shijak in Albania. Then he returned to Highlanders FC for six months. He also played in Mohun Bagan AC in India. His next club was Enosis Neon Paralimni where he stayed for three years. In June 2007 he signed a contract with AC Omonia. He plays best as a defensive midfielder but he also plays well as a right back. In May 2012 his contract with AC Omonia end, so Kaseke was free to find his new team. During this five years with AC Omonia Kaseke won 5 titles.
He started playing for Highlanders from Under-12 with the likes of Johannes Ngodzo. His break for the Highlanders first team came in during the 1998/99 season when Bosso won the championship. Because of the tight competition at Bosso during that time, Kaseke, a defensive linkman had to contend with being deployed at right back or in central defence. The team was under the tutelage of Rahman Gumbo and the late Benjamin Moyo as assistant.
Kaseke stayed at Highlanders to win two more championships until he headed to Albania in 2002 where he joined KF Dinamo where he was for one and a half years. After that, he had a three-month stint with an Indian club who were playing in the Asian Champions League. When that ended, he returned home before he tried his luck with South African Premiership side, Bloemfontein Celtic who had former Bosso midfielder Richard Choruma in their books. Just when he was about to sign for Punya Sele Sele, Kaseke got a call from Enosis Neon Paralimni of Cyprus who had seen him play for KF Dinamo. He was with Paralimni for three seasons in the Cypriot First Division from 2004 to 2007.
While at Paralimni, Kaseke was spotted by Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia where he spent five years between 2007 and 2012. It was at Omonia where he achieved a lot of success on the field of play. Kaseke won the league, Super Cup as well as three FA Cups with the club. He also got to play in the Uefa Champions League qualifiers with Omonia as well as the Europa League.
When the financial crisis hit countries like Cyprus and Greece in 2012, Omonia were forced to sell Kaseke to the United Arab Emirates. Kaseke said he had to forfeit everything Omonia owed him for the move to the UA to come to fruition. His first club in UAE was Al Shaab where he was for a year before his move to Dibba Al-Hisn for three years and has been at Masfut since August last year. Kaseke did not slow down when he moved to Asia as he continued to pick up awards. “At Al Shaab, I was in the team of the week six weeks in a row sand Player of the Week twice. I was Player of the Year Dibba Al Hisn and in 2015 I was voted in the top three foreigners in UAE. At my current club, I won Player of the Month twice, in February and March. My club finished sixth in a fourteen-team league in the just ended season,’’ Kaseke said.[2]
Coaching Career
Like most players, his desire is to venture into coaching when he does eventually retire. Kaseke has enrolled for the Asia Football Association B coaching licence and also has plans to acquire a Uefa B in Cyprus. He wants to start coaching in the UAE before he then moves to Europe and eventually Africa.
National Team
Noel has a several caps for the Warriors since 2007 up to 2012.
Accolades
- Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League winner x3 (1999-2001 with Highlanders Football Club)
- Cypriot Championship in 2010 with AC Omonia
- Cyproit Cup: 2011, 2012 (Alki Larnaca)
- Cyprus FA Shiels: 2010 (AC Omonia)
Teams Played For
Giving back to the community
Kaseke does a lot of charity work in Bulawayo as he supports Old People’s Homes as well as Children’s Homes. He believes that since football has done a lot for him, he has been blessed, that is why he does charity work. He supports Old People’s Homes and Children’s Homes, he has been doing it for more than six years where they fall short, he buys foodstuffs and nappies.
