Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Thirty-five aspirant coaches are expected to attend the South African Football Association introductory coaching course in Giyani, starting today.

The four-day-long course, which will be conducted by Safa coaching education department head Kenneth "Conti" Kubheka, will take place at the local stadium.

"It is phase two of the course that started earlier this year where the majority of participants are school teachers," said Kubheka.

"We are excited to see teachers taking up courses in coaching. You will recall that in the past, school soccer played a significant role in the development of our sport.

"We used to have competitive soccer played at our schools where professional clubs used to scout for players in the 1970s and 1980s.

"What is good about teachers attending is that it will help to ensure that our children are guided by properly trained coaches.

"Some of the things that we deal with include nutrition, training goalkeepers and preparing for a training session.

"We do not have current or ex-professional players because, in terms of our policy, they start attending level one courses."

Kubheka will be assisted by Raymond Mdaka, coach of National First Division League side Dynamos.

"We are grooming Raymond to be one of our coaching instructors," Kubheka said.