We can’t just sit and talk…
On the recently held coaching course
First and foremost, I would like to commend the South African Football Association for giving former players a chance to embark on the CAF C License coaching course. I was very impressed by the fact that a lot of younger players and former players like Musa Nyatama, Bernard Parker, Happy Jele, Manqoba Ngwenya all attended (the recent coaching course). The course was done at Ekurhuleni, Germiston Stadium and I was happy because we need to have a lot coaches who went through these courses and actually qualified. When I started playing, a lot of coaches didn’t have qualifications, but football has developed and now qualifications are very important. I have heard a lot of people who said coaching qualifications are not important, and that is totally wrong because there’s a lot you can learn from these courses. There have been situations before where local coaches were barred from sitting on the bench during CAF inter-club competitions because they didn’t have a CAF license and that was not a good picture. This CAF C Licence coaching course, in my opinion, is a step in the right direction. It’s good for South African football to improve our coaching qualifications and hopefully that will result in us developing better-quality players. South Africa is one of the best nations in Africa and yet we are struggling to qualify for tournaments like the Africa Cup of Nations as well the FIFA World Cup and this is the way to go if we want to improve and change the situation. We can’t just sit and talk about what needs to be done in order to improve our football, we need to take action and see the results. We need to empower former professional players and ensure that they attend these courses and further their education because football lessons do not stop the day you retire from playing. This is very important for the new generation of players and in Europe, players start attending these courses while they are still playing. My advice to players who are currently playing (is that) during the off-season, start attending coaching courses and that’s what European players do.
On the transition from playing to coaching
A lot of former players struggle with the transition of moving from playing to coaching and most of the time it’s not a fault of their own. I don’t believe former players in South Africa get enough opportunities to coach and grow into coaching. In my opinion, they are not given the platform to express the knowledge they have acquired through playing and coaching courses. There are so many qualified coaches in South Africa and most of them have played the game at the highest level as well, but they don’t get enough time to grow. That is the challenge we have. When players retire and become coaches, they need to be given time to grow and stamp their authority. When you start playing football, you start from somewhere in the youth teams, you learn the basics, how to pass the ball, trap, shoot and so forth, and you are allowed time to grow until you become matured and a complete footballer. The same process needs to happen in coaching. The Local Football Associations can also be used by these players as a place to practice what they have learned from coaching courses because grassroot football is also important. Players in the LFAs need the knowledge and experience of former players. Look at Monnapule Saleng from Orlando Pirates, for example – he is 24 years old and it’s only now that he is blossoming into a great player, but where was he when he was 18 or 19? These are the challenges facing us because we need to get players who are 17 and 18 into the PSL teams and the national team, not at 24 years old. It’s all going to start with having qualified coaches who have the ambition and passion to coach. That is very important. Taking someone who has just retired from playing straight into coaching is counter-productive because you will coach players thinking that it’s you that is playing. But you must understand there will never be another Ernest Mtawali or Doctor Khumalo – you are coaching players with a different style and mentality. When you go for coaching courses, you learn that it’s not about you, it’s about players on the field and as a coach, you cannot compare yourself with players. People like Pep Guardiola played the game and were great players, but in order for them to make that transition from playing to coaching smooth and become successful, they had to attend coaching courses and that is why they are where they are today and good coaches. The same can be said about Gavin Hunt and Pitso Mosimane – they were both good players, but they are successful because they were able to make the transition and they also received the support.
On the African continent’s benchmark
There is now a benchmark on the continent that without a B Licence you cannot sit on the bench and coach a professional team. Other countries, like Malawi and Botswana, have already put these strict rules in place where you can’t coach without these qualifications. I’m a holder of a CAF A Licence and UEFA A Licence. I understand that it’s not easy to obtain them –I had to go to Malawi for my CAF A Licence and I had to go to Germany for the UEFA A Licence. So, it’s not easy, it takes time. When former players obtain these coaching qualifications, we need to give them a chance to coach as well, whether it’s in the ABC Motsepe League, Motsepe Foundation Championship, the PSL (DStv Premiership) or junior national teams. Let’s give them a chance and allow them to grow into better coaches.