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The South African Football Association (SAFA), is hosted its CAF A License Coaching course following a lengthy wait since 2017.
A total of 25 coaches, comprising of tacticians from various divisions, including South Africa’s Premier Soccer League gathered at the headquarters of South African football in Johannesburg for the first phase of the Diploma between 13 – 20 November.
The CAF A License, which is a strict requirement by CAF for coaches to be eligible to be in the technical area in an official CAF competition will be divided into four phases and is set to conclude in June 2024.
Notable coaches involved in this edition included SuperSport United coach, Gavin Hunt who’s side is in action in this week’s TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup group stages against reigning champions USM Alger.
Cape Town City’s Eric Tinkler as well as Steve Barker of Stellenbosch United FC were also among some of the Premier Soccer League coaches in attendance, while former players such as Jabulani Mendu (Kaizer Chiefs legend), Godfrey Sapula (Mamelodi Sundowns legend & Youth Coach) and Sailor Tshabalala (Orlando Pirates legend) were amongst some of the legends upgrading their coaching credentials.
Speaking from the course in Johannesburg, SAFA Technical Director, Walter Steenbok said providing coaches with such knowledge and qualifications forms the cornerstone of football development and brings African coaches up to speed with international standards.
“Coaching education is the cornerstone of football development and it was important that we bring back our coaches into the mainstream of international football. CAF has been helping us in doing that. For us what is important is to avail such high quality courses and of course to have a group that is mixed the right way which includes former players, upcoming coaches and experienced coaches. So it’s good news for the coaches”, said Steenbok.
African Football League winning coach, Rhulani Mokwena was amongst the invited guest speakers at the course, along with other highly experienced African football tacticians.
