Taurai Mangwiro
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA Southern Region technical and development committee administrator Tumediso Mokoena has urged coaches to upgrade their qualifications, saying only gaffers with relevant qualifications will be allowed to practise next year.
In line with club licensing, Zifa said it will be strict with the standard requirements for football coaches at all levels, with only those in possession of at least a Caf A Licence allowed to sit on Premiership benches.
One of the tenets of club licensing is to have key qualified personnel employed by clubs and this includes coaches as well as administrators.
According to the national association, the country has made great strides in empowering local coaches, with 41 coaches now holders of Caf A, while 114 have attained Caf B and 193 with Caf C licences.
Zifa also wants grassroots junior coaches as well as teachers to hold a minimum qualification of local Level 2 and grassroots certificate in coaching.
Mokoena said they will start with an instructors’ course in Bulawayo from October 20-24, followed by a Level 4 coaching clinic that will run from October 26 to November 13.
“Registration is open for courses that we’ve lined up and we encourage people to attend and make sure they acquire standard qualifications.
“For one to participate at the instructors’ course, they must pay $300 and be holders of a Caf A Licence as well as a Level 4 badge.
“The Level 4 course costs $350. In December we will also have a grassroots course for development coaches,” said Mokoena.
Zifa has also lined up Caf courses, starting with the Caf C Licence to be held in Gweru from October 24 to November 7 that will cost $350.
A Caf B Licence course has been set for Bulawayo from November 14 to December 2 and participants will pay $600.
The high level Caf A Licence will be held in January and Zifa has set an exorbitant $1 200, an amount that may restrict aspiring coaches.
Our Harare Bureau yesterday reported that local coaches eager to meet the Zifa deadline to attain the mandatory Caf A Licence had made a passionate appeal to the soccer mother body to make the fees more affordable.
The Caf A Licence course is scheduled for Harare from January 9-23 for the first module, with the second slated for February 13-27.
Newsome Mutema, Zimbabwe Coaches’ Union secretary-general, said they had engaged Zifa through the association’s technical director Taurai Mangwiro seeking a review of the prohibitive fee. Mutema suggested that Zifa could come up with a concise budget that could cater for the majority of applicants that need to attain the licence.
“Zifa should ensure that course fees are affordable when running coaching programmes, so that many are not disadvantaged given the prevailing economic situation in the land.
“We feel the course fees should be determined by a proper costing system which is designed on a cost recovery basis since Caf caters for most of the expenses of the foreign instructors,” Mutema said.
He said the fact that the course would be held at the Zifa Village should help in reducing costs — @ZililoR.