Carling coaches the coaches

Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba visited budding grassroots football coaches on the 2014 edition of the Carling Black Label Coach the Coaches programme.

Mashaba joined the 58 Safa C-Level candidates at the Sandton Sports Club to share his knowledge and expertise. The programme is a unique coaching development initiative conducted by Carling Black Label and the governing body of local football, the South African Football Association (Safa).

Coaches were selected from the SAB League and Carling League of Champions were awarded the Safa C-Level qualification upon the completion of the course, which was conducted by respected Safa coaching instructors and renowned sports scientists.

To qualify for this programme, coaches had to finish at the summit of their SAB regional leagues across the 52 Safa regions. Also, six of the coaches were selected from the Carling League of Champions tournament, which is another Carling community soccer initiative.

Mashaba, speaking after his session with the coaches, gave his full support to the programme, saying this was one of many initiatives that were required to take South African football to the next level.

“Coaching is a critical factor in our football. There has been a strong focus on player development, but this cannot be done successfully if we do not equip and train the trainers accordingly. Programmes such as these are critical in assisting us in improving the standards of football in our country,” said the Bafana mentor.

The coaches also visited the Tuks Stadium at the University of Pretoria as part of their course training and were afforded the opportunity to analyse a professional match between Ajax Cape Town and the University of Pretoria.