Coaches I’ve worked with: I really appreciate y ou!

I’m not sure if our readers are aware of some of the top coaching instructors we have in the country. I’m talking about people who are the driving force behind coaching education. I don’t think they know of these guys’ qualifications and how they arrange these coaching courses. They don’t know how these people impact former footballers and individuals who want to get into coaching. They don’t know much about how important these people are to our game. Some, if not most, of you will remember when I mentioned that coach Conti Kubheka planted the coaching seed in my career. Along the way, here I am, having crossed paths with a very knowledgeable Simon Ngomane. A very strict individual who can be one of the calmest people you will ever meet. I know this might sound contradictory, but it is the truth. Bra Simon is a no-nonsense instructor. I know some of my classmates struggled to understand him as an instructor in the beginning, but they realised that he was just taking his craft seriously and wanted only the best from everyone. This is someone who wants everything to be done on time and he never compromises. Some of us are very fragile, but I took instructor Ngomane as someone who wanted nothing but the best for all of us while we behaved like typical students in class. I would like to believe if Bra Simon wasn’t as firm as he was, most of us wouldn’t have gone out of our way to understand the concepts and everything he was teaching us. In other words, he really managed to get the best out of all of us. W e all understood, quickly, what it takes to become a coach through his teachings. Instructors, just like teachers, differ in their approach and style. Instructor Boebie Solomons, Kubheka and others are different in their own way and that is what sets them apart from everyone else. That’s why it is important to pick up something from each individual to formulate your own approach and philosophy. W e need to appreciate our instructors because these people put a lot of effort and input into South African football, without making any noise about it. W ords can’t describe how important these guys are to our football because of the information they share with the upcoming coaches and how they prepare them for the coaching world. W hen I go around the country doing coaching workshops with my colleagues, we realise that some of our coaches are clueless because they’ve not undergone professional coaching and therefore don’t know what coaching is really about. This puts us in serious danger because they are the catalysts of developing and preparing players for the future. That’s why we find talented youngsters lacking football basics because they were not developed properly. These instructors play a major role in avoiding that because they have the South African football syllabus. They are the ones who know how everything should be done and we need to acknowledge and treat them with kid gloves. W e have to let them know that we appreciate you, Mr Ngomane, Mr Kubheka, Mr Solomons and your colleagues. My first classroom encounter with instructor Ngomane made me realise the difference between receiving and giving out information. W hat I mean is that, as a footballer, you receive information and as a coach, you give out the information. That really opened my eyes because this means just because you were a great player, or played at the highest level, you will not automatically become a good coach without education. Y ou need to swallow your pride, go sit down and study in a classroom, from knowledgeable people like instructor Ngomane. That’s how we can enhance our coaching and

I rate this man and his colleagues very highly, having gone through their teachings myself. These are people we don’t appreciate or talk about what they are doing for the country, while they are still alive. I want to say to Mr Ngomane, as much as it was not an easy road for one to travel – the course was really difficult – but I’m now a better person because of your teachings. I know more and use your approach in my teachings because it really worked. From the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate you! W hy can’t our mother body allow these gentlemen to come up with a unified solution on how development structures need to be run in South Africa? It looks like a fruit salad, at the moment, because different provinces do things in their own way, we have foreign invasion with people coming from countries that I believe shouldn’t be coming here to teach football. W hy don’t we allow our own to rescue the situation and take us back to our glory days? The school sports played a major role in our football and I believe if the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture can sit and meet with these gentlemen, they can find a solution to our school sports and youth development. Other sporting codes are ahead of football at schools. Some of us are products of school sports and if you trace school sports back, you will find that at some point, about 90% of footballers making headlines were school sports products. W e have people who can take us back to those wonderful days, in our midst, but we are not making use of their expertise. I’m saying this because I don’t think everyone is aware of what we have at our disposal. Mr Ngomane is one of the highly qualified individuals that I believe should be utilised in this country. Some of us have learned a lot from him, throughout the different courses at SAFA. Here we are, in possession of knowledge and qualifications that no one can take away from us. Instructor Ngomane has been working tirelessly behind the scenes and he hasn’t asked for anyone to make noise about his good work on his behalf. He’s an unsung hero and I really want to salute and celebrate this legend. Thank you, Mr Ngomane, for enhancing my coaching and being a mentor. I just thought I’d say these things about you while you are still alive and let you know exactly how I feel about your contribution to our football and let you know that you are being appreciated.