Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZAMBIAN elite Confederation of African Football instructor Honour Janza is facilitating the five-day refresher course for the country’s Caf A coaching badge holders which ends tomorrow in Harare.
All the 18 Premier Soccer League clubs are represented at the clinic which has drawn 40 participants.
The course certification is a prerequisite for PSL coaches to be accredited to sit on the technical bench for the 2023 season.
Zifa technical director Wilson Mutekede said through the programme that is being facilitated by Zambia and Tanzania coach, Caf A badges will be validated accordingly.
“The course is underway and all the PSL teams are represented. The course was open to all Caf A licence holders and we have 40 participants. According to the Caf statutes, a licence must be validated by a refresher course after every three years.
“We last held a Caf A course in 2017 which means most of our coaches’ certificates need to be renewed for them to be valid. This is a normal validation refresher course which is also meant to keep our coaches up to date with modern football trends,” said Mutekede.
The Zifa technical director said the key elements that the coaches are going through include game situations, analysis of team performance and programmes, scientific approach to football, periodisation and dugout management.
Preparing training annual programmes that are broken down to monthly and weekly is also being covered at the refresher course.
The Caf A badges’ holders refresher course comes a week after Zifa successfully held a goalkeepers’ course. Former national team goalkeepers, Chicken Inn Energy Chirambadoro of Chicken Inn and Chenjerai Dube, ZPC Kariba’ goalkeepers’ trainer, ex-Highlander gaffer Julius “Caesar” Ndlovu, Bosso’s Daniel Khumalo and Dynamos’ Brito Gwere attended the shot stoppers’ refresher course.
Caf instructor Tembo Chuma, who is the FC Platinum’s goalkeepers’ coach facilitated the course.
Zifa is seized with organising refresher courses for Caf B and Caf C coaching holders.
Mutekede said they will continue with refresher coaches’ courses and certification of local football trainers arguing that Fifa and Caf did not ban Zimbabweans from acquiring football knowledge when they suspended the country from all international football activities last year.
“We’ve noted with concern some football sections who question why we’re doing these Caf refresher programmes. Some have gone to the extent of fighting the tenets of club licensing by campaigning against the requirement of having properly qualified technical structures. What people must know is that Fifa and Caf never suspended us from learning and developing. This is why you see that a Caf instructor Janza is here from Zambia to impart knowledge to our local coaches so that they are certified.
“We’ve had elementary coaching clinics and soon we will be availing dates for Caf B and C refresher courses,” Mutekede said.
Zifa remains resolute on full implementation of club licencing, with standardisation of coaches topping the list as they want qualified coaches carrying out their duties.
According to the national association, only Caf-A licence holders will be allowed to lead PSL teams. — @ZililoR
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