Pretoria - Fifteen football coaches from rural areas across the country have been recruited to receive training on a grassroots programme.
First National Bank (FNB) and the South African Football Association (Safa) made the announcement on Wednesday in Johannesburg when unveiling the first FNB 2010 Legacy Programme.
The coaches, who were identified by Safa's technical department, will be put through their paces at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria from today until Friday.
The three-day training session will also address issues of maximising the use of equipment and facilities.
Following their training, they will then be rolling out a variety of football development and life skills initiatives at FNB artificial pitches in Pietermaritzburg, Mthatha, George, Thohoyandou and Kimberly.
The coaches' objectives will be setting up weekly training sessions and development squads for both boys and girls. Once the development squads have been established, a talent identification process can be activated by Safa.
In December last year, FNB announced its commitment to football development through the FNB 2010 Legacy Programme. The bank will invest in football development in South Africa over the next three years.
Safa acting CEO, Pinky Lehoko, said the association's partnership with FNB is making an immense contribution to football development.
"We appreciate FNB holistic contribution to development, their role in sponsoring our junior national teams, the construction of five artificial football turfs and the 2010 grassroots legacy programme that involves the training of coaches and young players," she said.
Lehoko said all these initiatives are clear indications of FNB's commitment to uplift football. FNB's head of corporate communications, Virginia Magapatona, said: "This should strengthen the national under 17 sides in their quest to qualify for their respective FIFA World Cup events."
