The Confederation of African Football (Caf) Coaching Convention has readmitted the South African Football Association (Safa), paving the way for South Africa to host the Caf A License coaching diploma courses later this month. The classes will be held between November 13 – 20.
Some of the well-known coaches in the country who have jumped at the opportunity include Gavin Hunt (SuperSport United), Eric Tinkler (Cape Town City), Steve Barker (Stellenbosch FC), Boebie Solomons, former PSL stars Godfrey Sapula, Jabulani “S-Curl” Mendu and Sailor Tshabalala, Pretoria University coach Tlisane Motaung and Tiro van Rooyen, the Mamelodi Sundowns Under-17 trainer.
In recent times, highly experienced coaches like Tinkler and Hunt have been frustrated by the rules that govern head coaches in Caf competitions. Hunt, who has won the PSL league title four times, has had to sit on the stands because his Uefa qualifications were not on par with what Caf prescribed. Tinkler, who also has Uefa badges, and not those of Caf, has also suffered the same dilemma of watching his club play while he sits on the grandstand.
According to the Safa website, this course will be divided into four phases and requires a total of 200 hours of study. Among the selected batch of coaches from 65 applications, a total of 25 participants can now look forward to earning their coveted Caf A badges by June next year.
Safa Technical Director Walter Steenbok expressed his satisfaction about these latest developments: “We are extremely excited about the upcoming course and believe that the association has taken a big step forward by being back in the convention.
“Caf regulations stipulate that head coaches must possess either a Pro or Caf A license before sitting on benches during continental competitions like the Champions League and the Confederations Cup, leading us towards empowering our local coaches.”
Earlier this year, Steenbok expressed his goal to ensure that coaches are fully equipped for their duties. A significant achievement towards this objective is the reintroduction of the Caf A License, which is considered as a major accomplishment to Safa’s Coach Education department. Steenbok anticipates that more courses will be available for both male and female coaches by 2024.
“It has been six years since we conducted Caf B and A course in South Africa. However, we have managed to get accreditation and satisfied the new manuals’ requirements of Caf,” Steenbok said.
