Maximal Football.com managed to chat to some of the
prominent coaches who did not ‘fit’ into SAFA’s ‘criteria’ to be invited at the
recent Technical Symposium. The idea was to find out if or what contributions
they would have made to the gathering. What we discovered exposes those who
formulated the invitation criteria - the criteria which was dismal and
discriminatory.
Collectively,
this group of SAFA’s unwanted football technicians, offers superior knowledge
as most of them have graduated from courses in Brazil ,
Holland , Germany ,
SA and participated and even conducted coaching workshops in SA and Asia . Their experience comprises coaching in the PSL, SA
Youth National Teams, National Student Team, Professional Clubs in Asia, SA
Universities, Sport School of Excellence, Youth Academies
The overall
assessment of most of these individuals shows that their qualification,
experience, achievements and personality is at the level required for positions
such as that of the Football Association’s Technical Director and even the CEO
– in countries where the game of football is taken seriously.
Their input
into the current effort to fix the wrongs of SA football is equally impressive.
Using their advanced knowledge and mixed experience – local and overseas – they
came up with a series of observations and recommendations that cannot and must
not be ignored. SAFA and the CEO should give themselves an ultimatum and not to
the national coaches to resolve the following:
- Position
football as the ONLY national sport in SA. Football sharing the status of
national sport with other sports is illogical and unavailing in modern times.
- Regulate
all concepts, programs and interests that impact on the national interest,
mainly the PSL, Youth
Academies
- Resolve
all sources of conflict of interest such as dual league and club leadership,
private club ownership without community representation and partisan
sponsorship and broadcasting disparities (TV expenditures and time for Rugby , Cricket vs Football)
- Recognize
the fact that without close cooperation and total support from the PSL’s
professional coaches the performance of the national team(s) cannot improve –
world’s experience shows that this is an absolutely uncompromising factor in
international football.
-
Re-educate general football mentality in the country away from less favourable
foreign influences – as demonstrated in all AFCON editions and Continental Club
Competitions the African players’ inborn qualities are substantially more prone
to superior performance when generally influenced by the culture of Latin
football (French, Portuguese, Spanish, Brazilian) than English, Dutch or German
philosophies) – in a proportion of 75% to 25%
- Revamp
the Coach Education program by scrapping the current syllabus/curriculum and
replace it with an SA-conceptualized approach and organize re-qualification
courses to correct the wrong and incomplete knowledge previously provided to,
mainly, Introductory, Level 1 and 2 coaches.
- Strictly
acknowledge that the strengths of SA players – skill, creativity, high dynamics
and attractive competitiveness – can only be fully developed after 8-10 years
of systematic youth development where the native traits of the youngsters are
maximized (there are no short-cuts whatsoever)
- Re-direct
effort to develop youth and elite youth coaches at a minimum ratio of 8 youth
coaches to 1 senior team coach.
- Unify
methodological approach to youth development according to the specific
bio-social and cultural profile of SA Black Youth (85% of participants in SA
youth football activities)
- Address
the embarrassing disparity for a football nation where in the vast majority of
SA cities and towns there are 18-20 rugby, cricket and other minor sports
fields and facilities to one decent football ground
- Eliminate
contrasting/restricting and obsolete foreign coaching programs and influences from
SA youth development
- Introduce
– first time in the world – pre-development programs for children of 3-5 years
old using ‘kick-for-fun’ approach for early genetic (football) activation.
- Institute
a national system of competitions where ALL competitions are controlled and
monitored by the National Competition Committee with sub-committees for each
level of competitions.
- Prohibit
all 11-a-side full field competitions for the U14 age groups while establish
youth leagues from the regional to national levels - age 15 to 19
- Impose
‘10% Development Tax’ on revenue generated from the PSL gate takings, transfer
fees, matches’ broadcasting and sponsorship to create founds that will assist financially
in the employment of youth coaches at the grassroots level.
- Promote
to the Government the international practice where a certain category of youth
coaches are fully or partially subsidised by Government departments
- Review
the criteria of appointing national coaches by considering factors such as
performance history, experience, advanced knowledge and respected personality
and apply it to reconsider current positions
- Convince
SA academic institutions to commence programs, studies and research directed to
football and embark in serious projects of developing technical intellect
- Restrict
the use of non-football specific (adopted from other sports) or general sport
science data and imported performance parameters in SA and insist on multidisciplinary
science of football as the only relevant source of advanced info.
-
Re-enforce SAFA’s NEC and Technical Leadership with knowledgeable, experienced
and dedicated South Africans who can add valuable technical guidance in the
governance of the game.
- Eliminate
any discriminatory attitude, snubbing and undermining of people or peoples’
ideas and accept your limitations and mistakes whenever the case might be.
It is more
than obvious and fair to say that the January 2012 Technical Symposium would
have greatly benefited from such contributions. By choosing not to allow these
individuals to attend the procedures did not serve the interest of SA football
or the hope of the football nation. What we are learning the hard way is that
in the absence of answers to these vital inadequacies the game cannot progress
and even governed.
This
collective input based on in-depth analyses of local and international
prerequisites for successful football could be seen in many ways as brutal, but
it is the only answer when dealing with facts that President Nematandani
recognizes as being brutal. MaximalFootball.com will keep the records of these
recommendations for further references.
Minds of
the dumped diamonds … minds seen to be in violation of minds who continue to
resist change!
By Maximal Football Editor
Original story: http: http://goo.gl/qsf3A
Email: editor@maximalfootball.com
