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Ricky Zililo Sports Reporter
ONLY two coaches from Bulawayo are attending the intermediate Caf B licence coaching clinic that started on Monday and runs for two weeks in the city. Former Highlanders player and assistant coach Bekithemba “Super” Ndlovu and How Mine’s assistant coach Sheunesu Chaka are the local students who are part of the 20-member class advancing their knowledge.
Some of the prominent faces attending the two-week clinic include ZPC Kariba goalkeepers’ coach Tembo “Chokri” Chuma, ex-Motor Action and Chicken Inn assistant coach Prince Matore and Dynamos’ Phillimon Mutyakureva who deputises three-time championship winning coach Callisto Pasuwa.
Hwange High School’s Evelyn Rimayi is the only female participant. She was drafted to the girls’ junior coaching teams.
This is the first time that Bulawayo has played host to a Caf coaching clinic with most of the courses having been held in Harare.
Veteran coaching instructor Gibson Homela expressed his disappointment on the snub of the course by local aspiring gaffers.
Homela is the director of the course and is being assisted by trainee instructors Sam Mavenyengwa and Zifa technical director Maxwell Jongwe.
“I for one thought that we were going to have more participants from Bulawayo and other parts of Matabeleland provinces.
“It’s the coaches who advocated for courses to be decentralised and be spread to other parts of the country so that we equip as many local coaches as possible,” said Homela.
“I don’t know the reason why they didn’t attend maybe these coaches faced financial constraints, who knows? It’s for their own good to upgrade because they might want to coach outside the country and the Caf Coaching Licence is recognised throughout the continent.”
Hwange’s duo of Brian Njobvu and David Phiri, Thulani “Thuts” Sibanda who twice won the Zifa Southern region Division One Soccer League championship with Quelaton and Plumtree Chiefs and is now with Black Mambas in Harare as well as Gift Lunga (senior) are some of the prominent Matabeleland coaches that were earmarked for the course.
Coaches attending Caf B Licence which is equivalent to the Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association (Zisca) Level Three certificate paid a participation fee of $600.
Meanwhile, Homela said a foreign instructor is expected to jet in to oversee the examinations and give a presentation to participants from October 12-14.
He said the appointment of Jongwe and Mavenyengwa who will be assessed over three clinics after which a report will be sent to Caf was done above board.
“After the Caf A Licence that we held earlier on, we invited a number of coaches that we thought had potential to become instructors and at the end of the assessment it was Jongwe and Mavenyengwa who were chosen. They’ll be working under me as I conduct these Caf clinics and after three courses, I’ll make a report based on their performance,” said Homela.
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