The ManicaPost
Fungayi Munyoro Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE will host the much sought-after CAF A football coaching course this year – almost three years after its suspension, Post Sport can reveal.
The course was temporarily suspended in 2017 due to the need for an extensive curriculum and content delivery review.
Zifa technical director Wilson Mutekede confirmed that the suspended Caf football coaching courses are expected to resume anytime soon.
In a telephone interview with Post Sport, Mutekede said they were given the green light to host the three courses – Caf C, Caf B and Caf A – by the Confederation of African Football (CAF ).
Member associations’ technical directors have already been introduced to the new package which was formulated in cooperation with experts from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
“The wait is almost over for all coaches who had been made to wait due to CAF’s consultative curriculum review, but it is important for everyone to note that there are also going to be changes in the manner in which we have been conducting the courses. We will make known the dates of resumption soon.
“Not everyone will be eligible to enrol for these courses until and unless they satisfy set conditions. All applicants should produce coaching files as proof of practice because we believe that there is no point in further training for coaches who are not practising.
“Dedicated coaches should make efforts to practise, be it at schools, colleges or academies. What is key is to familiarise with real issues associated with the field,” Mutekede said.
The suspension of Caf A coaching course, a prerequisite for a coach in a top-flight league club technical department, had raised a lot of debate with some coaches applying for exemption.
The Zifa technical and development committee recently met and approved exemptions for local coaches, who include Moses Chunga, Luke Petros, Agent Sawu as well as Amin Soma Phiri, Bongani Mafu and Shadreck Magurasave.
These were given the green light to coach in the Premier Soccer League without Caf A.
All the other coaches are holders of Caf B while Mafu has a Uefa B.
However, Mutekede said apart from technical preconditions for eligibility to partake in Caf courses, interested participants are now obliged to produce medical clearance to certify their ability to perform physical training.
To ensure quality delivery during courses, class sizes will now be limited to a maximum of 25 participants for CAF A and B licences, and not more than 30 for CAF C courses.
Meanwhile, Zifa Eastern Region will hold Level 1 and 2 coaching courses at Chancellor Primary School.
Level 1 will kick off today (Friday) while Level 2 will start on Monday.
Both courses will end on February 23.
The Zifa Eastern Region vice-chairman, Wisdom Simba, who is also sits in the Zifa technical committee meetings, confirmed that over 50 participants had registered for Level 1 while 33 had confirmed for Level 2.
“We are having our two courses at Chancellor Primary School. The response has been overwhelming. We are expecting more participants for Level 2. The fees are $360 and $460 respectively,” he said.
