By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK
Local aspiring football coaches converged in the capital for a five-day FIFA Women’s Football Pilot Coaching Course that got underway at the Tabitha Conference Centre, situated between Katutura and Khomasdal in Windhoek, yesterday.
The primary objective of the course is two-fold: Emphasis on Development of Coaching Theory and how to create Infrastructure for Top Level Football.
The World’s Football Governing Body Women’s Football Development Manager Mayi Cruz Blanco, says Namibia is on the right track and numbers amongst the leading nations on the African continent in terms of structured Women’s football as opposed to other countries such as Botswana that are still in their infant stages.
Blanco is very impressed with Namibia’s rapid progress – an exercise that she claims has certainly simplified FIFA’s drive to get Women’s football off the ground on the African continent.
“The structures are already in place here, and we will now concentrate on the Intermediate level to be followed by another one in due course where we will explore the area of how to develop as a coach” Said Blanco.
In his keynote address, the new Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport & Culture the Honourable Reverend Willem Konjore, congratulated the Brave Warriors for their well deserved victory over Kenya in their opening match of the 2010 World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifier, last weekend.
“Women football has grown in leaps and bounds over the past years locally, and we have seen a steady increase in school teams in various soccer leagues, notably in the Khomas region. Our senior Women’s team, “the Brave Gladiators” is no longer the whipping minnows of continental football but is increasingly holding her mantle against continental powerhouses such as Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana”.
Konjore praised FIFA for acknowledging the Namibian Women’s Football Development Programme as amongst the most viable and practical ones in the modern game.
“It’s important that we should continually develop and sharpen Women’s football administrators and coaches’ skills to enable them to be on par with their counterparts world wide. Lying a strong foundation requires hefty investment, and to build a strong team of skilled administrators is no mean feat”.
The Minister expressed hope that the course will help alleviate the perennial problem of skilled sport administrators and coaches, especially in the outlying regions and facilitate the NFA’s comprehensive football demographics for the continued development of the game at grass roots level.
FIFA’s Instructor and Member of FIFA Technical Committee Vera Pauw, is conducting the 5-day course, while FIFA Consultant Monika Staab and Botswana-based FIFA Development Officer Tlahagiso “Sonnyboy” Sethibe are monitoring the proceedings with keen interest.