The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
SOUTH Africa-based juniors coach, Fortune “Fokoza” Ncube is set to experience international junior football when his charges take part in the Iber Cup scheduled for Portugal next week.
The former Motor Action forward who is in charge of juniors as Sporting CP Portugal Academy in Johannesburg said he is excited by the prospects of engaging other grassroots coaches and picking up knowledge from them.
Teams that will be participating at the event come from Portugal, France, Brazil, United States, Australia, Turkey and Spain.
Ncube said he will look to use this opportunity to widen his knowledge on grassroots coaching during the trip.
“I’m excited to be heading to Portugal as this will give me a chance to exchange notes with junior football coaches from different parts of the world.
“I believe in Africa, that is where we need to improve our game as we have not been giving junior football the importance it deserves and maybe we have been going about it the wrong way,” he said.
Fokoza, who was in the country a fortnight ago to apply for his visa, said he missed out on the opportunity to travel in April and hopes to make up for that lost opportunity.
The tournament will run from 1 to 6 July.
Ncube, who coaches Under-11 age group at Sporting CP, said they will take the occasion to interact with other coaches from the mother club, Sporting Lisbon, getting a grasp of how junior football training is organised.
“We have an internal online course that we are doing and travelling to Portugal will give me the chance to update myself and meet my tutors.
“I am passionate about junior development and will be mindful the trip is more of learning-focused than targeting to win,” said the former Bantu Rovers, Bulawayo Chiefs, Black Mambas, Hwange striker.
Ncube started his coaching career at Christian Saints in Harare in 2012 before moving to Beitbridge where he joined ZRP and was then recruited by Luke Masomere at Border Strikers as the second assistant coach then.
He joined Arenel in 2017 before joining Sporting.
