IMPORTANT UPDATE! Never disrespect indigenous knowledge - a harsh lesson for the ambassadors and promoters of foreign football interests in SA. For the past two or so years many South African youth football coaches and teachers have been empowered with knowledge regarding the fundamental need of developing the Playing Philosophy of SA football as the pre-condition for maximizing nations’ rich talent. The highly successful models of German, Spanish and Dutch playing philosophies have been used as references. Consequently it is now widely recognized that the leading principles of SA high performance specific model comprise the PLAYERS’ BIO-CULTURAL SPECIFICITY, A UNITARY AND STRICTLY SA SPECIFIC COACHING METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH, LONG TERM CONTINUITY, etc. These PRINCIPLES MUST BE UNCONDITIONALLY RECOGNIZED AND RESPECTED in the process of youth development. Based on this precise knowledge it was only normal that when KZN Academy announced that its program will be under the technical control of Portuguese Paulo Cardoso there was a strong reaction from local coaches, mostly KZN coaches. Questions and complains were raised regarding the coaching philosophy, selection of players and the poor show of the Academy at the U19 Durban International tournament. More concern was expressed when some of the best youngsters were sent home from trials because of not being ‘tall enough or physically very strong’ (?!) At that stage, I was told that there wasn’t enough evidence for SAFCA to react but the situation changed dramatically the other day at the Soccerex event in Durban. When a new partnership between Liverpool FC and Hoypark/KZN Academy was presented at the conference some gross contradictions, irrelevancies and incompatible solutions for SA youth development were disclosed by the respective panel. This time SAFCA had no option but to promptly intervene. It is inadmissible and insulting (to SA football) for those panellist to state that the Liverpool FC and Hoypark coalition will ‘provide opportunities for White and Indian youngsters to be developed in football’ (??!) The next ludicrous and dangerously misleading statement was that the Academy uses ‘SA football philosophy’ and yet the Liverpool delegation insisted that they will apply ‘The Liverpool Way’ (??!) of developing players and playing football. Such statements were provocatively delivered in an arrogant/disrespectful manner. Paulo Cardoso’ lack of advanced technical know-how and understanding of SA’s unique football specificity was badly exposed when he did not find the answer to the question posed by Zipho Dlangalala: ‘Can you give an example of a country that has won the world cup with a foreign playing philosophy?’ Sadly, other coaches’ attempts to voice their concerns were rudely dismissed. Also, suspiciously SAFCA’s request to make a presentation on the ever-important issue of playing philosophies was rejected by the organizers despite the fact that initially the idea was well received. Several other issues concerning the international value and relevancy of Liverpool’s youth development concept/methods (their Academy doesn’t figure in the top 20 European Academies!!) or the fact that nothing is known by their coaches about the unique attributes/limitations of SA youth and, finally, the incompatibility of a club (Liverpool FC) playing philosophy with a nation philosophy (South Africa) have badly exposed this dubious and illogical scheme. The talking is that several promoters of foreign interest in SA football will enjoy financial benefits from this ‘valuable development’ programme. The indigenous knowledge and involvement of SA coaches CANNOT be DISRESPECTED or IGNORED! What is your reaction?
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 08:14:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015