Durban — SOUTH Africa’s most successful football coach Pitso Mosimane and Curro Holdings launched the first of many Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools programmes on Thursday morning.
The 58-year-old has had the dream of contributing to the development of and growth of the country’s football standards and his latest initiative, which includes the education of both young players and coaches, aims to do just that.
While parts of the African continent get an opportunity to test themselves against some of the best nations on the globe in the World Cup in Qatar, South African football fans are left to reflect on yet another failed attempt at qualifying for the prestigious showpiece.
It has become part of the local DNA to criticise, condemn and denounce the national team players, coaches and administrative structures as frustration grows at a team that was one of the biggest football nations on the continent.
Mosimane, who is currently the head coach of Al-Ahli Saudi FC in Saudi Arabia, expressed that his partnership with Curro Schools is an attempt to produce a more problem-solving conversation rather than one that continues to remind us of our issues.
“The challenges have always been there, we all present problems but no solutions. I believe that this is the solution, educating young football players and coaches in one process,” he said.
The former national coach believes he has put together the right programme to address the list of challenges South African football faces.
“The three biggest problems we face as a country are the unavailability of formalised football structures, a lack of a defined development approach and our current development programmes begin late into the life of a growing football player,” he explained.
“The programme that my team and I have put together has extensive research behind it and is derived from some of the best development countries in the world. It features influences from journeys around the world from clubs like Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands
“Our manuals were formed, in part, by conversations I’ve had with Arsene Wenger (Fifa’s Chief of Global Football Development). All of our coaches are accredited through Fifa while proper time and recruitment procedures were undertaken in a professional manner.”
The Pitso Mosimane Soccer Schools project will kick off in two Curro schools in the North West and Johannesburg and is expected to branch out into government schools as well.
IOL Sport