Staff Reporter
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has taken a major step towards advancing women’s football by launching the country’s first all-female CAF C Licence Coaching Course, a programme aimed at increasing the number of qualified female coaches and promoting gender inclusion in the sport.
The seven-day course, which is being held at the ZIFA Village in Mount Hampden, started on Sunday and runs until July 19 under the FIFA Women’s Football Development Programme – Coach Education Scholarship.
Thirty aspiring female coaches from across the country’s 10 provinces are participating in the inaugural programme, which is being facilitated by Mighty Warriors head coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda and ZIFA Technical Director Dominique Niyonzima.
Officially launching the course on Tuesday, ZIFA vice president Loveness Mukura described the initiative as a landmark achievement for Zimbabwean football, saying it demonstrated the association’s commitment to developing women’s football through investment in coach education.
She said the programme formed part of ZIFA’s Women’s Football Strategy, which seeks to build a sustainable pathway for women to assume technical leadership roles while improving the quality of coaching at all levels of the game.
Mukura encouraged the participants to take full advantage of the opportunity, saying the knowledge and skills acquired during the course would enable them to nurture future generations of female footballers and contribute to the growth of the sport.
She also applauded FIFA, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the ZIFA Executive Committee, the association’s secretariat and the course facilitators for supporting the initiative.
Lead instructor Sibanda said the coaching course was more than a training programme, as it sought to empower women to become influential leaders in football and strengthen the technical development of the women’s game.
She said the participants would be equipped with modern coaching methods, leadership competencies and practical skills to enable them to make meaningful contributions in their clubs, schools, academies and communities.
Sibanda said the participation of women from all regions of the country reflected the growing interest in football coaching among women and underscored the need to continue creating opportunities for them to excel.
The programme is expected to significantly improve Zimbabwe’s female coaching capacity and strengthen the foundation for the continued growth of women’s football.
Zimbabwe currently has one female CAF A Licence coach, four CAF B Licence coaches, 10 CAF C Licence coaches and 47 CAF D Licence coaches. Three of the women holding CAF C Licences are also enrolled in the ongoing CAF B Licence Coaching Course, highlighting a growing pipeline of female technical experts in the country.
