The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
NATIONAL senior women football team coach, Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda is looking to expand her prospects in the sport after completing an inaugural 12-month Fifa Coach Mentorship Programme late last year.
The project was designed to support female coaches by enabling them to acquire new knowledge, skills and experience that they can harness in their careers through being paired with experienced mentors.
The programme came to an end in November with a final workshop and graduation held in Zurich, Switzerland.
Sibanda, paired with two-time Olympic-winning coach Pia Sundhage, said the course gave her a deep insight into the latest football trends while allowing her to appreciate the importance of proper organisation and preparation for games.
She said she is hoping to build on the knowledge she gained to expand her horizons and seek opportunities beyond the borders.
“Being selected for the course was not easy as they were only taking four mentees from each confederation. We touched on various football topics and also touched on my personal goals in the sport.
“The course was very challenging as it was demanding practically and I had to be on the pitch throughout hence I had to volunteer at several clubs to ensure I complete the assignments,” she said.
Kwinji said they did a lot of video analysis that included her work on the ground while her mentor also took time to attend some of her training sessions with the national team.
She revealed she learnt the importance of video analysis as part of improving a team’s play.
“It seems we are two worlds apart because when she put emphasis on video analysis but locally when you talk about it, they laugh at you yet it is now a critical part of the game in Europe.
“Analysing the game is critical if you are to correct your mistakes both as a team and individual players. I realised that in Europe they now look at football holistically and the little detail matters as it is imperative in a team’s success while locally, we just brush on the surface,” said Sibanda.
The importance of training and preparation was another aspect that impressed upon Sibanda and she revealed that the tendency of national teams to just group a few days before a game with little preparation was retrogressive.
She said although the country had achieved some success it could be attributed to luck or poor opposition as matches are played with little preparation.
“Another critical aspect for me personally is the ability to be tactically astute, being able to read the game situation quickly and be able to effect changes during a game.
“It is unfortunate as a national team coach you only work a few days when there are games unlike other countries where coaches are employed full time and can select players to work with even when they are with their clubs,” said Sibanda.
She revealed another highlight was the analysis of the 2019 Fifa Women World Cup in Italy as it allowed them to delve into the detail of the competition.
