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ZIFA technical director Jethro Hunidzarira has said former players will be exempted from elementary stages of coach education.
He said this in Bulawayo on Tuesday where he met stakeholders from the Metropolitan Province. He was on a fact finding mission around the country and was hoping that once done, the country will be able to map a way forward with a collective buy-in from everyone involved in the game.
He said it was unfortunate that previous officeholders had undermined former players by subjecting them to start at the very bottom of coach education training.
“Do you think the likes of Steve Gerrard started at the very bottom?” asked Hunidzarira.
The four-hour session was attended by administrators, coaches, former players and legends drawn from some of the big clubs and women’s soccer. Participants raised a number of questions, among them being marginalised and failure to recognize former players in the broader football ecosystem when they have retired.
He contended that it was a fact that many footballers did not have good grades at school and hence in any course they would not match others when it came to theory. He said football courses should be designed to accommodate them so that they find jobs in an industry in which they have invested most of their lives.
Hunidzarira said going forward, former players, depending on what level they played will even be exempted from the Caf C entry level. In the past, local coaches started at Zifa Level One and attended training up to Level Four.
Level Four graduates were then able to attend the Caf C course, which many always argued was below the Zifa Level One in terms of course content and depth. The announcement by Hunidzarira should come as sweet news to former players as they will now be enabled to work in a field they are well invested in.
“In other countries, former players are exempted and go straight to Caf B and some Caf A depending on the level of football they played. We would like to introduce that,” said Hunidzarira.
He added that the courses should also allow for former players to be judged on 80 percent practical, which is where they are strong and can score good marks and the other being theory.
“We should see players do the better part of their training on practical demonstrations, where that could provide up to 80 percent of their course content while the other is theory and vice versa, the other group should be allowed to do more theory and less on the practical because they will not demonstrate some of the things better than someone who has played football,” said Hunidzarira.
The Zifa technical director said that once he completed his tour of the country, he will draw a comprehensive development programme that is inclusive of the stakeholders’ input. He said development structures were bad and needed a national approach for revival.
Online Reporter