Mitchell’s Plain Local Football Association (MPLFA), in association with Safa Cape Town and Safa national, hosted a soccer festival with a twist at Portland High School on Sunday. Instead of simply kicking ball, coaches from various clubs in Mitchell’s Plain and elsewhere took centre stage as they were put through a series of drills to evaluate their level of competence.
Sunday’s festivities follows a three-week Confederation of African Football (CAF) D licensing accredited course that was held at the same venue.
“This an entry level qualification that allows coaches to coach at grassroots level,” said MPLFA head of coaching Yaasien Solomons.
He said among the topics covered was how to to deal with young players from different backgrounds.
“As a coach you need to know more than football basics, because it’s not just about football. The skills you learn can be applied on and off the pitch.
“The CAF D Football festival was to showcase what the coaches learnt during the three-week course and they were assessed to determine if they are competent or not competent as coaches,” he said.
Solomons said he was happy to report that 38 coaches were found competent.
“So the whole festival was planned out by the coaches themselves whereby they set up six stations for the 60 to 70 kids participating,” he said.
“Each station either had either a technical drill or a small sided game (SSG) which the players would participate in. Throughout the process the instructors, Marion February and Donovan Smith walked around to asses all the coaches.
Rushdie Kenny, from Hanover Park, a member of Eagles Performance Academy (EPA), was among the coaches who attended Sunday’s soccer festival.
“We had to put on a football festival for young children as a requirement for the CAF D Licence course. It was a successful day, seeing the children delighted and helping them complete the mini drills was fantastic,” he said.
“I work with new coaches in addition to learning more about football coaching and managing larger teams.This course aided me in pursuing my lifelong goal of becoming a certified coach,” he said.
