Zifa TD, education officer on tour

JOSEPH Sibindi, an education instructor for CAF-certified coaches, has expressed his satisfaction with the nationwide meetings that aim to establish a national football philosophy.

The country has not had a unique playing style for a long time, and the inconsistency in coaches has made it difficult for the senior national team to adopt a particular style of play.

Sibindi and Zifa technical director, Jethro Hunidzarira, have been holding meetings with coaches across the country to come up with a uniform playing philosophy and style of play for children aged between 12 and 15 years.

Sibindi believes that having a unifying philosophy in the country will support the development of football. Most coaches seem to prefer the 4-3-3 formation, according to discussions in the Bulawayo meeting on Monday.

“This programme is not only being done in Zimbabwe. CAF has instructed each country to come up with its own football philosophy for children between the ages of 12 and 15.

“The idea is that the coaching philosophy for children in this age group should be the same across the country. In that age group, Zimbabwe should have a uniform playing philosophy and style of play. So, in our meeting with coaches, we want them to tell us what they believe are the activities, formations and playing styles that suit us as a country,” said Sibindi.

He believes a uniform philosophy in the country will aid in the development of football. “Coaching philosophy identifies a nation. Every coach in the country has his own philosophy, but we want to have one coaching philosophy for our juniors, which will not confuse players in the event they move to any other club because this philosophy will be our identity as a country.

“We are not in a position to pre-empt what other provinces have agreed on because we are still to have meetings in other places, but everything is pointing to the positive at present,” said Sibindi.

Hunidzarira concurred saying there has been a positive response from coaches.
“We are confident that we will get something out of this. In the future, this will help us have a football philosophy even at senior level,” he said Hunidzarira. The team will be in Gwanda today before going to Masvingo for more meetings. — @innocentskizoe