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A number of young and aspiring football coaches have greatly benefited from CAF’s innovative youth football competition, the CAF African Football Schools Championship (ASFC).
Now in its second successive season following the successful rollout of the inaugural pilot edition, the benefits of the programme have extended beyond the youth football talent identification platform provided by CAF.
At the heart of the programme, as envisioned by CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe is the investment of Youth in Africa and the development of future African leaders, and this has successfully been brought to life through the competition’s wide-ranging capacity building programmes that ran concurrently to each Zonal Union qualifier this season.
With the lack of qualified football coaches at school level, CAF successfully rolled out its CAF D License Coaching Course across all the Zonal Union qualifiers as a strategic step in addressing the need for accredited coaches at grassroots level.
From the CAF African Schools Football Championship Zonal Union qualifiers, a total of 210 aspiring coaches were officially trained and qualified to coach youth football thanks to the programme’s visionary approach to youth development.
The focus on coach development is in addition to the wide-ranging capacity building programmes that ran parallel to the competition which include the Young Referees Programme, Young Reporters Programme, Young Medical Officers Programme as well as the CAF Safeguarding workshops.
With the highly anticipated CAF African Schools Football Championship Finals 2024 set for Zanzibar between 21 – 24 May, the capacitating and upskilling of young African coaches is set to continue on the sidelines of the Finals, as CAF continues in its tireless efforts of developing African football.
The CAF African Schools Football Championship features boys and girls under the age of 15 and is a first for world football.
The innovative programme is a brainchild of CAF President Dr Motsepe – in line with his vision of Investing in the Youth of Africa.
Winners of both the Boys’ and Girls’ competition will each receive USD 300 000 prize money, runners-up each receiving USD 200 000, while the bronze medallists will each take home USD 150 00, courtesy of CAF’s partnership with the Motsepe Foundation to be utilised for development projects within schools in Africa.
