Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE will host a CAF A coaching course for the first time in almost a decade as the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) continues efforts to rebuild the country’s football development structures.
The return of the CAF A Licence course follows engagements by the new ZIFA board to restore Zimbabwe’s standing within the Confederation of African Football (CAF) coach education framework after the country lost the right to host CAF coaching courses when it was removed from the CAF Coaches Convention.
As part of the restoration process, Zimbabwe is already running its first CAF B Licence course since 2017, with participants currently undertaking the second module. The programme has attracted coaches from Eswatini and Botswana and is being delivered under CAF’s upgraded diploma-based curriculum.
ZIFA Technical Director Dominique Niyonzima said the association has successfully re-established the coaching pathway.
“The pathway is ready. We started with CAF D and moved on to CAF C across all provinces. The CAF B class is now in progress, and next month we start the CAF A course. However, the B and A classes are highly specialised and each accommodates only 25 participants.”
CAF Coaching Assessor Honour Janza commended Zimbabwe’s progress, saying the country is on course to regain its place within the CAF Coaches Convention.
“We are excited about this development. Zimbabwe has put everything in place for readmission into the Coaches Convention and has worked hard to meet the requirements. This will help the development of football in the country.”
The return of the CAF A coaching course is expected to help address Zimbabwe’s shortage of highly qualified coaches and strengthen the country’s coaching capacity.
According to ZIFA, Zimbabwe currently has about 40 active CAF A Licence coaches, most of whom are working in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League and the education sector.
