Hesron Kapanga
Coaches from the recently-promoted National First Division teams have praised the Namibia Football Association (NFA) for allowing them to learn and exchange ideas with national selectors, through its internship programme.
The internship programme launched by the NFA technical department and the Brave Warriors’ technical team allows local coaches to exchange ideas with national selectors to enhance the game in the country.
In an interview with Nampa this week, Brave Warriors’ coach Collin Benjamin said as part of the NFA open-door policy, they are always looking forward to exchanging ideas with coaches from clubs.
“The NFA belongs to all of us, and we thought what the best way is of improving football if not by exchanging ideas with other coaches. Therefore, we developed this internship programme that will see coaches from clubs come in while we are in camp to see how we do things and share information,” Benjamin said.
He added that the positive aspect of this internship program is the opportunity for national and club coaches to exchange ideas, and share their expectations for players at both club and national levels.
Kambonde Sakaria Shafa, the assistant coach of KK Palace who won the Northwest First Division (NFD) Stream, said attending national team training will greatly benefit clubs tactically, especially those in the north.
“The national team has all the equipment, which makes our work easier. At the club level, we often struggle with not having all our best players attend training regularly due to other commitments. This makes it difficult to prepare for upcoming games tactically,” he said.
Meanwhile, the head coach of KK Palace, Leonardo Ndengu, pointed out that the national team structure showed them the importance of not relying solely on one coach.
“At club level, we manage everything, from being the team doctor to the kit manager or water boy. We also need to improve tactically, as at the national level, players are expected to know already the basics that we must teach at the club level,” he said.
Axaro Mukoya, co-head coach of Namibia Correctional Service who won the Southern Stream First Division, said he was happy with the professionalism of the national team’s training preparation and execution.
“Here, players know when training starts, and they all show up on time, whereas at club level, players tend to come late and provide excuses. We thus need to be less lenient at club level because without punctuality, things won’t work well,” he said. – Nampa