The South African Football Coaches Association (SAFCA) has acknowledged with deep regret and outrage a series of unacceptable policies, procedures and actions employed by several foreign programs that allegedly are offered to assist in the development of South African (SA) youth football and coaching. The large scale of negative reactions from SA coaches, parents and football fans attest to this predicament.
At the time when SA is in a process of implementing its own national and club football philosophy through various technical projects under the control of the SA Football Association, a multitude of contrasting and less relevant foreign programs are indiscriminately operating in the country thus creating general confusion and discontent. The youth projects controlled by the English clubs Tottenham, Liverpool, Southampton, the Premiership Skill coaching clinics, the Scottish FA coaching courses, Dutch, German, Portuguese coaching methodologies or the Brazilian Football Schools have created a technical chaos in SA football which is immensely detrimental.
Contrary to fundamental scientific requirements that the very specific characteristics of SA children and youth such as the dominant predispositions for ball skills, physical typology, physical education background, culture, climate influences, game mentality and creativity, maturation rate, etc., must be considered whenever coaching and training content is defined, none of the foreign projects have ever recognized or complied with it. This is outrageously disrespectful to South Africa.
It is appalling and inadmissible, for example, that the Liverpool FC’s youth program in SA falsely and misleadingly claims that local children will learn how to ‘play modern football’ (‘The Liverpool Way’) in two days . The cost for such a ‘miraculous’ development is a staggering R1, 200 for the two days; a fee that the vast majority of parents in SA cannot afford.
In the light of these abnormalities and inequities the SA Football Coaches Association has no alternative but to regard the situation to the international ruthless race for talent hunt that makes SA a highly fertile and cheap resource for high grade football talent. If this would not be the case then, normally, all these foreign youth and coaching projects would have a completely different approach. That approach would translate into genuine foreign assistance to SA football to develop its own talent and coaches instead of instituting schemes to control and exploit it. The growing public opinion that SA football is facing a foreign technical invasion aimed at gaining significant profit out of nation’s rare talent resembles neo-colonialism in sport and the signs that it’s happening are there.
Contrary to fundamental scientific requirements that the very specific characteristics of SA children and youth such as the dominant predispositions for ball skills, physical typology, physical education background, culture, climate influences, game mentality and creativity, maturation rate, etc., must be considered whenever coaching and training content is defined, none of the foreign projects have ever recognized or complied with it. This is outrageously disrespectful to South Africa.
It is appalling and inadmissible, for example, that the Liverpool FC’s youth program in SA falsely and misleadingly claims that local children will learn how to ‘play modern football’ (‘The Liverpool Way’) in two days . The cost for such a ‘miraculous’ development is a staggering R1, 200 for the two days; a fee that the vast majority of parents in SA cannot afford.
In the light of these abnormalities and inequities the SA Football Coaches Association has no alternative but to regard the situation to the international ruthless race for talent hunt that makes SA a highly fertile and cheap resource for high grade football talent. If this would not be the case then, normally, all these foreign youth and coaching projects would have a completely different approach. That approach would translate into genuine foreign assistance to SA football to develop its own talent and coaches instead of instituting schemes to control and exploit it. The growing public opinion that SA football is facing a foreign technical invasion aimed at gaining significant profit out of nation’s rare talent resembles neo-colonialism in sport and the signs that it’s happening are there.
By: Editor
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