The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
SAKUBVA-BORN four time Premiership title winner, Blessing Gumiso, broke new ground in his coaching career when he recently made the grade to partake in a high profile junior football mentorship programme.
With Germany national, Frank Kramer, set to take a class of 12 students selected from 30 aspirants, Gumiso and compatriot, Tendai Nyathi – a former Blackpool defender – are the only Zimbabweans who will be rubbing shoulders with South African participants during the course.
Gumiso, a legendary figure at Highlanders after winning four Premiership titles, said: “I am happy that I managed to find an opportunity to augment my junior football coaching qualifications. No doubt, I will benefit a lot getting to learn from a highly rated figure in the trade.”
The former Manicaland Division Two Gluelam and then Border Timbers FC midfield workhorse, who never tasted Division One football as he was soon catapulted to Premiership football, said he is now taking coaching seriously and hope to complete Caf A or equivalent courses by 2023.
“Had it not been of this Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions, I had planned to finish Caf A of equivalent coaching qualification by the end of 2023. I still harbour the same ambitions and hopefully it will work out well,” said Gumiso. He said he draws his coaching inspiration both from the big names that coached him during his playing days as well as glaring errors of the current crop of coaches in the region.
“The idea of coaching came after realising that during my playing days I learnt a lot from my former mentors such as Rahman Gumbo, Eddy May, Jostein Mathuthu, Zambian, Fewdays Musonda and Willard Khumalo, just to name few.
“Now as a retired player, I can see their (current coaches) weaknesses and strengths so that will give me a strong knowledgeable and healthy foundation of the dos and don’ts as well as how to handle players,” he said. The passionate budding gaffer already runs a blossoming junior football project at his Johannesburg base.
“Here l started my own kids’ project, Northriding Grassroots Soccer Development. Parents actually pay for their kids to be taught basic football skills and drills. I also coach Acacia School soccer team in Johannesburg,” he said.
