19 Feb 2024

A total of 25 football coaches consisting of teachers and community members in Tsabong have been trained on Botswana Football Association (BFA) D-License beginner’s coaching as part of the FIFA campaign on Football for Schools.

Speaking in an interview recently, BFA technical officer Women’s Football and FIFA Youth and grassroots instructor, Barobi Ngwako said the aim was to increase pool of coaches and develop grassroots football for boys and girls of the ages of 6-12.

“The programme is targeted at teachers to assist us develop football especially those who are passionate about the sport.

They will work with community coaches to create football centres where they can groom future football stars,” she said.

For his part, Tsabong Regional Football Association chairperson Keleeme, Bahakgametse appreciated the training, which he said would go a long way in developing football at the grassroots level in the region.  “We noticed that there was a gap in coaching skills because even when sports was allowed in schools, we did not equip teachers enough hence the BFA decided to empower them,” he said.

The FIFA for Schools programme, he said was launched in the Tsabong District where two teachers from each primary school in Tsabong including Maleshe and Maubelo were trained alongside 15 coaches from the community.

He said after the launch, they would ultimately move to Middlepits and Werda catchment areas as well as the BORAVAST cluster to train coaches. Meanwhile, he said they worked with the Regional Education Centre and community members to resuscitate football in schools to create a win-win situation.

“We cannot afford to miss grassroots development as the football fraternity because that is where future stars come from. So we train coaches to know which areas to focus on to develop those children,” he said.

A teacher at Nhake Primary School in Tsabong, Tirelo Lekula appreciated the coaching techniques and smart use of pitch that she learnt.

“Sport is a powerful tool that teachers could use to mould the behaviour of students. When a student is disruptive in class and you take him or her to a football pitch they may behave differently, learn teamwork and cooperation,” she said.

She, therefore, advocated for the reinstatement of sports in schools to allow teachers who were passionate about sport to instil life skills. ENDS