The South African Football Coaches Association (SAFCA) has unveiled a 7 point plan geared towards redressing some of the technical deficiencies in football. The plan is inspired by a successful Technical Workshop with SAFA, where SAFCA’s Playing Philosophy was generally accepted by participants that included former and current national teams’ coaches, youth and professional coaches and leading administrators.
With the national teams and clubs facing major challenges in international football competitions, SAFCA will embark on a programme that will kick off a process of uniting coaches, players and other relevant stakeholders under a common vision of making South African Football globally competitive.
SAFCA’s programme of action includes the following decisive actions:
- To mobilise and unite thousands of coaches from grassroots to professional under a National Playing philosophy that will restore the identity as a football nation. The practical application will be in a form of workshops and seminars nationwide.
- To engage SAFA in a second round of talks to implement and execute the Technical Authority in line with Article 45 of the SAFA statutes. Article 45 talks of the Technical and Developmental committee which deals with holistic technical matters. This committee must comprise of coaches with impeccable technical expertise.
- To recommend a Technical Director (TD) after the implementation of the Technical Authority. A TD or Sports Director’s appointment must be informed by the Technical Authority.
- To integrate Legends and current players in the coaching programmes that will focus on high performance and refined coaching curriculum. Research and Development will be the base of this programme.
- To convene a SAFCA Special Congress to review the organisations’ status and transform it into a purely technical body in line with the SASCOC’s coaching Framework and the National Sports Plan.
- To source funding from the 2010 FIFA Legacy Trust and other institutions like the National Lotteries Board to conduct refresher courses for professional and youth coaches in the 53 regions of SAFA.
- To work closely with Coaches Associations in the region, the continent and internationally.
SAFCA President Greg Mashilo says the acceptance of the National Playing Philosophy at the workshop held at SAFA House is an important milestone in the modern game. He says the unity of coaches will contribute immensely to the better development of football; “ we have a history of collaborated efforts by coaches, and that has yielded incredible results, including winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996, where coach Clive Barker was supported by a group of coaches with different assignments like scouting. That culture dates back to 1990 and the playing philosophy will help us to resuscitate it. SAFA convened a two day technical workshop a fortnight ago following a 2015 Special Congress Resolution to finalise the philosophy and correct omissions in the Technical Master Plan, and we are content as SAFCA that our task emanating from the SAFA Congress was carried out successfully”, said Mashilo.
SAFCA’s Head of Technical Simon Ngomane says South Africa has highly experienced and knowledgeable coaches to transform the game from good to great. He says coaches must be given space and resources to deal with technical matters in a brutally honest manner.
“SAFCA is of the view that the essence of redressing the serious technical deficiencies in our football depends on the introduction and adoption of a Technical Authority. We need as a matter of outmost urgency a committee of highly experienced technicians that will be responsible for quality assurance of all coaching and technical matters. The Playing Philosophy cannot exist in a vacuum, hence the importance of establishing a Technical Authority to drive the ideals of high performance for international excellence,” added Ngomane.
SAFCA congratulated newly appointed coaches and wished them well in the upcoming season. The recent appointment of local coaches like Steve Komphela and Serame Letsoaka in Kaizer Chiefs and Golden Arrows is welcomed by the Association. SAFCA also acknowledge the great work by Shaun Bartlett in spearheading Golden Arrows’ automatic promotion to the PSL. Congratulations are also in order for Jomo Sono successfully navigating Cosmos out of the gruelling promotion relegation Play offs. -SAFCA Media
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