THUMBS UP FOR NEW ZIFA TD

Petros Kausiyo-Zimpapers Sports Hub

ZIMBABWE’S top coaches have lauded ZIFA’s move to engage highly-regarded football expert Dominique Niyonzima as the association’s technical consultant, describing it as a masterstroke in the development of the national game.

Years of maladministration, negligence and mere dereliction of duty had weighed down on ZIFA, resulting in a stagnation of the country’s development programmes.

In that intervening period, Zimbabwe also suffered the ignominy of having the Confederation of African Football suspending coaching courses for ZIFA amid revelations that badges were now being dished out like confetti and not merited.

Niyonzima, a former FIFA regional technical consultant for East and West Africa regions and an ex-CAF deputy technical director, is coming in as the Head of Technical after the association ended Jethro Hunidzarira’s largely failed tenure as technical director.

The 62-year-old Burundian is expected to work with ZIFA for an initial one year and is expected to get down to business, once his work permit is issued by the Department of Immigration.

But as he prepares to get down to work, 11 years after he took to class the first group of the domestic game’s CAF A Licence coaches, Niyonzima returns to find ZIFA development systems that have been dysfunctional.

His appointment has sparked both excitement and hope in some of the top local coaches, who have interacted with Niyonzima.

And yesterday they united in saluting the new ZIFA leadership for engaging a high-level expert of Niyonzima’s calibre.

Former Warriors coaches Kalisto Pasuwa and Norman Mapeza, who attained their CAF A coaching badges under Niyonzima, led in the plaudits on the Burundian’s appointment.

“Dominique is a very knowledgeable and principled man. He is the kind of person our football needs for us to develop,’’ Pasuwa said.

“When he took us for the CAF A course, at first, I was a bit apprehensive because in his strictness with the whole class, he seemed to demand even more from me but then I said to myself maybe this guy is more on my neck because I am the national coach and wants the best from me.

“At the end of the course, he very much changed the way I handled my coaching.

“He made me see football in another light and I noted that we were focusing much on general training until he showed us specific training sessions and the need to pay full attention to every coaching detail,’’ Pasuwa said.

Among a host of coaches Niyonzima took in his CAF A Licence classes on his visits to Zimbabwe in 2014 and 2015 were the late Barry Daka, John Nyikadzino, Lloyd Mutasa, Jairos Tapera, Lizwe Sweswe, Godfrey Tamirepi, Mandla Mpofu, Pearson Matipedza, Newsome Mutema, Herbert Maruwa and Mapeza.

FC Platinum gaffer Mapeza, who captained and coached the Warriors hailed the move by the Nqobile Magwizi leadership to bring on aboard Niyonzima.

“I heard that Dominique is coming to Zimbabwe which is very good thing. He is a very good guy, he has so much football knowledge, a wealth of experience and probably in Zimbabwe I would rate him in the mould of the late Mudhara Matongogere (Nelson), so very knowledgeable.

“I found him to be a very good guy when he took us for our CAF course, I wouldn’t know how the other coaches felt, but for me we tapped a lot from his huge football knowledge,’’ Mapeza said.

Such is the appreciation that FIFA have for Niyonzima’s expertise that the world body tasked him with growing in 13 Central and East African countries and three West African nations between 2018 to earlier this year.

He assisted those countries with development projects, coach education, women’s football, youth football and also held grassroots and elite youth coaches’ courses.

Between 2006 and 2018, Niyonzima was a CAF Elite instructor and was part of the continental body’s crew of experts who launched the CAF C, B, A and Pro-License courses.

It was during that period that he interacted with current Yadah Stars coach Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe who was the ZIFA technical director back then.

“It is a blessing that Dominique has come to ZIFA at this time. Very few people in Africa can match the vast knowledge and experience this man has.

“ZIFA must give him a free rein and the latitude to re-organise the technical department and I can assure you by the time he leaves, Zimbabwe will be on another trajectory in terms of football development.

“He is so straightforward and does not settle for less or anything sub-standard. I benefited a lot from his experience. Dominique is one guy who insists on the finer details on the game of football which is a missing link in most of us local coaches.

“A true professional who hates short cuts in football. Up and above all he is highly literate in football no wonder why he’s a FIFA consultant,’’ Jongwe said.

TelOne gaffer Maruwa and Triangle assistant Mutema shared similar sentiments.

“Dominique is one of the best instructors I have ever seen . . . he is very serious about his work and he understands the game very well. He will surely make a difference he is the kind of person that is needed.

“He is a straight forward guy and he told us to work for our badges not to be given for free,’’ Maruwa said.

For Mutema, Niyonzima is the ideal man the Zimbabwean game needs.

“He is one of the highly rated instructors in Africa and him coming on board will add value to the development of football.

“It’s the first time we have a TD from outside and will bring another dimension to coach education.

“The man is tough and firm and has details on his figure tips and comes in with a lot of experience,’’ Mutema said.

Given the low calibre of administrators also scattered in the domestic game, Niyonzima will no doubt have his work cut out in helping to transform ZIFA’s development pathways. But with more than three decades in the business, working in Francophone and Anglo-Saxon Africa, the former Burundi senior and Under-17 coach is “probably just what the doctor ordered.”