Durban - The standard of football in KwaZulu-Natal is set to improve with 13 local coaches off to Brazil for an international coaching course.
This initiative forms part of the KZN Department of Sport and Recreation's 2010 and Beyond Strategy.
The participants are highly qualified coaches who have conducted courses in the province and will receive instruction in the latest global training techniques from 6 to 13 November.
On their return, they will also assist other local coaches to improve their technical and organisational skills. The coaches will also get exposure to the latest football material and manuals that can be used to improve the way football is played and run at a district level.
The Fluminense Football Club in Brazil will host 13 South Africans.
"This trip marks the beginning of great things for KZN football because when these ladies and gentlemen come back, we expect them to share their new found knowledge with their peers," said MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation Wesizwe Thusi.
The department wants to maintain the momentum built by the FIFA 2010 World Cup and this programme is one of their 2010 legacy projects.
"The Department of Sport and Recreation works closely with SAFA on football development. It was this partnership that gave birth to this exchange programme which we hope will assist in capacitating our coaches," said Thusi.
More than R300 000 will be invested in sending these coaches to Brazil who will host the next FIFA World Cup in 2014.
"We have chosen Brazil partly because their style of play is the closest to ours and also they have played and won many World Cup finals both at junior and senior levels which means they are doing something better than any other country. That is what we want these coaches to learn and bring back home," said the MEC.
The department is also planning to bring Brazilian coaches to the province to conduct coaching clinics and workshops.
"We want KZN players to be trained by the best to ensure that they dominate all the clubs in the professional leagues and indeed the national squad," said Thusi.
The MEC added that her department is proud to finally be in a position to do this because coaches from Gauteng and the Western Cape receive better training than those in KZN.
"This trip means that our coaches will now be on par with their peers from these provinces, no longer will coaches from other provinces be deemed superior to our coaches".
