Football coaching clinic for scribes
SPORTS journalists have been handed an opportunity to equip themselves with the knowledge to effectively analyse, critique and report on football with Zifa organising a Level 1 coaching course for the scribes.
The six-day course, which was initially scheduled to begin on 22 April, will kick off on 5 May at Raylton Sports Club and will be open to other aspiring coaches.
Zifa Southern Region board member Tumeliso Ndlovu said they halved the fees for journalists as they were learning in order to fulfil their writing duties and not to become coaches.
“The fee for journalists has been pegged at $40 and we believe this will entice most of the writers to attend. The Sports Journalists Association (Spoja) (Southern Region) approached us and we realised it would be a noble initiative that would have a big impact on information dissemination when it comes to football.
“The course is open to other coaching aspirants but they will fork out the full course fee which is pegged at $80,” he said.
Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda the course will add on to the knowledge journalists have and could lead to better informed match reports.
“Journalists will be able to think from the perspective of the coach; they will be able to relate when a coach is talking about a formation strategy, they will be able to interpret the tactics and the game much better.
“We need to empower football writers so they can write with authority and command respect from their readers. I think they (journalists) can also question and criticise coaches and players better after having gone through the coaching course,” he said.
Sibanda said Zifa would also be working with Spoja to ensure they host a basic referees’ course that would enable journalists to learn the new developments in the laws of football.
“While the courses the scribes would attend are not advanced, I think they would be adequate to ensure