No free ride, says Ledwaba
Former Zulu Royals forward Jacky Ledwaba (right) says local coaches should not expect to get employed before foreign coaches just because they are South Africans.
Having coached National First Division side Magesi FC since 2013, Ledwaba has urged local coaches to study, so they are able to compete with their European counterparts for jobs in the Absa Premiership.
The former Winners Park coach says many retired players should be tasked with solving the development conundrum in South African football, even suggesting that forums should be set up where they can come together and discuss ways they can contribute to restoring the identity of the country’s football.
“You need to up your game as a coach, things change in football,” explained Ledwaba. “It’s like getting promotion to another league, you need to be a coach with a different plan and thinking in a league higher than the one you came from.
“As much as we must be given a chance as local coaches, we also need to equip ourselves academically, yes we deserve a chance as local guys but we also need to work for it so we can teach the culture of South African football. The game evolves and we should also move with the changes.”
The former Premiership top-scorer believes building a good relationship with your players and giving them a “sense of belonging” is directly linked to teams’ performances.
Ledwaba says coaching goes beyond tactics on the field and has a lot more to do with management as well as being able to read a player’s character which will guide the coach on how to speak to each player.
Ledwaba helped promote Magesi from the ABC Motsepe League to the NFD, but the striker laments the lack of continuity between the leagues and from a club’s development structures to the first team.
He says there needs to be a template set up by football bodies in the country which will be used as a guideline on how to develop players from school leagues until they reach the top flight.
“One thing I would like to see is continuity. We don’t have continuity in South Africa – if we had that it would be simple.
“As soon as one player is in the first team playing in one position, there needs to be another in development being prepared to take over if the first team player departs.
“Even with the coaches, we need to have one coach leading and another learning from the head coach so that he one day takes over from the head coach ... this will help build our identity as a country.”
Ledwaba has encouraged footballers to go and research what a player in the position which they play contributes to the team to better understand how they can benefit the club.