COACHING COACHES
Braun speaks football transformation in Botswana
It is now two years since German Football Expert, Dr Carolin Braun, touched base in Botswana with the aim to revamp local football.
Among her many duties are advising the football governing body, Botswana Football Association (BFA), and capacitating local coaches.
In an interview with Voice Sport this week, Braun said she came here through a joint project called the German-botswana Football Project.
“It is a joint project between German Olympic Sports Confederation, Federal Foreign Office, the German Football Association, BFA and Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), with a purpose to advise regional structures and to conduct coaching courses,” she said.
Braun, who holds a rich résumé, said coming to Botswana has been an amazing experience in her career as she enjoys re-structuring football in different countries.
She’s a FIFA Technical Expert, and an International Instructor who the German Football Association (FA) equipped to mentor Technical Directors.
LICENSE
“I also hold a UEFA A License, and so far we’ve set up a solid coaching system started with the D License and has covered more than 300 coaches now,” said Braun.
Quizzed about who is funding the project, Braun said; “BFA is not responsible for my payments as they’re all covered by the project. I was happy to be given an opportunity to assist the national team coaches, and I felt I could add value looking at my experience. I’ve also noticed that women’s football is still lagging behind and I have outlined it in my plan to help it develop as well,” she said.
Commenting on the standard of football in Botswana, Braun observed
that the country has talented players and coaches who need structures, clear pathways, sustainable infrastructure development and national academies.
Meanwhile, Braun said she has been constantly advising BFA on how to return to play. “I have created the return-to-training presentation, which was part of the expert group and we are currently running medical workshops for the regions as we are about to give teams the go ahead to train,” she said.